


for as long as i live (even if it's not that long)

by pyninja



Series: Time Travel AU [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Fantasy, Historical Inaccuracy, Infidelity, M/M, Sappy, Smut, very little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-11-16 15:41:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 50,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11255958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyninja/pseuds/pyninja
Summary: When Kyungsoo gets sent back to 1957, the last thing he expects is Byun Baekhyun.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is unbeta'd so please excuse the grammar and typos. Feedback is definitely appreciated. :)
> 
> READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

Kyungsoo makes his rounds, greeting every room with a bow and a quiet hello. Every once in awhile he drops a smile, and if there are women in the room, they all coo at him and tell him how cute he is.

When he finishes visiting his rooms and checking in on everyone, he moves to the last room. Knocking quietly on the wood door, Kyungsoo waits for a “Come in” and then opens it to smell the familiar aroma of lavender waft through the air.

“Good afternoon, harabeoji,” Kyungsoo says as he makes his way to the man in the rocking chair. “How was your day?”

He turns his head and the wrinkles in his face deepen as he smiles seeing Kyungsoo.

“Soo, it’s nice to see you.” He pulls Kyungsoo down by the hand and Kyungsoo obliges, squatting in front of the window to face him. “My day was boring. How was yours?”

“It was pretty uneventful as well,” Kyungsoo says giving the harabeoji’s hand a squeeze. “Why was your day boring?”

“It’s just boring here,” he says as he waves a hand behind him to the rest of the sparsely furnished room. Looking out through the window he sighs deeply, as if he’s reminiscing something. “Kyungsoo, have I ever told you how my love left me?”

Kyungsoo shakes his head and adjusts his position, ready for another story. “No, you haven’t.”

The old man gives a sad smile that he seems to linger on his face more often these days. “I’ve told you how kind he was right?”

Kyungsoo nods and he can feel the tremor go through the man’s body as he loosens his grip on Kyungsoo’s hand.

“He was also handsome and hardworking.”

Kyungsoo nods again. The old man sighs and lets go of Kyungsoo’s hand.

“The day he left, it was like any other day. We woke up and had breakfast, took a walk around the neighborhood and then went back home to get ready for the day.” The old man’s lips are moving slowly as the wrinkles in his forehead grow more severe. His eyes are still concentrated on the gardens outside. “It was a beautiful day, but something wasn't quite right about him. I went off to work, and he seemed fine, but when I came back, there was a panic about him.”

He pauses for a moment, rocking slowly as he does.

“He grabbed me by the hand and asked me some things. There was something desperate in those last few hours with him. Like he hadn’t any time left. He asked me if I could say some things. Do some things. They seemed like silly requests at the time and I agreed to them easily.”

Tears begin filling his eyes, and Kyungsoo is caught by surprise, never having seen him cry in all the story sessions they’ve had in the past year or so.

“We had been together for nearly two years, but that night, he went for walk and never came back.”

The old man finishes his story there. It’s much shorter than his usual ones and Kyungsoo sits there for a good amount of time as he watches the old man cry a little. When he finally stops, Kyungsoo speaks up.

“Why did he leave?”

The harabeoji shakes his head and laughs. “For good reasons. Reasons I can’t hold against him. I found out about them long after he had left, and when I did, a lot of things fell into place.”

“But why do you still love him?” Kyungsoo asks, face completely serious. He’s always been invested in the old man’s well being and this man is someone that has burdened him for a long time.

“Because he was a beautiful person.” He gives Kyungsoo a long smile before he pats him on the head. “Don’t look so sad.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t realize he’s frowning but immediately straightens out his features when he does. “If you loved each other why didn’t he come to see you after that?”

The old man looks down at Kyungsoo fondly and says, “Reasons. Those pesky reasons. But he has visited me.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widen as he rises up out of his sitting position to stand. “When?”

“It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that he visited,” the old man says waving a hand at Kyungsoo to get him to sit back down.

Kyungsoo can’t help but want to meet this man the harabeoji speaks about. Every time he visits, there’s always a new story, a new side to him that he hears about. It’s fascinating and engaging, but it’s also quite sad. They met about sixty years back and in the middle of their relationship, he disappeared for reasons the harabeoji wouldn’t disclose and everyone in the story was left with a broken heart.

“Kyungsoo-ah,” the old man says and Kyungsoo steps a little closer to him.

“Yes, harabeonim?”

“I think this is the last time we’ll see each other for awhile.” He doesn’t elaborate, but they both know what he means.

“Well, let me know when you’re back,” Kyungsoo says, ignoring the actual meaning of his words. “I’ll bring a friend next time.”

The old man smiles and pats Kyungsoo’s hand which has found its way to the arm of the rocking chair.

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Kyungsoo leaves a few minutes later, bumping into Taehyung on his way out.

“Talking with that harabeoji again?” he asks with a bright grin.

Kyungsoo just nods and walks out of the building, thinking about when he’d see the old man again. Over the past year, he and the man have struck up an odd friendship that his friends like to tease him about. When he and Taehyung had decided to volunteer at an assisted living facility, Kyungsoo had been more reluctant than Taehyung. They needed volunteer hours, and Taehyung had begged Kyungsoo to come with him. Now, it was Kyungsoo that was the first one out of the door, signing up for a few extra hours. If he doesn’t get them, he stays a little longer anyway. Just to hear the harabeoji’s stories.

There are many stories that stick with Kyungsoo, but as Kyungsoo begins walking home tonight, he remembers a particular one.

“He was a singer. A wonderful singer, but he was always so shy. It took me months to hear him sing, but after I did, I’d always make him sing for me over and over again.” The old man laughed remembering something. “One day he messed up. I won’t elaborate on what he did, but it was something that he thought was a big deal. I didn’t mind it too much, but he ended up serenading me in my brother’s shop. In front of all the customers.” They both laughed at that. Kyungsoo can feel the harabeoji’s love for this man when he speaks of moments like that.

One story leads to another and Kyungsoo thinks of one that the old man repeats often: how he messed up cutting his boyfriend’s hair.

“It was so bad. Oh my god.” He needed a few minutes to stop laughing. “I was trying to cut it so that it was short on the sides and long at the top, but,” he broke out into laughter again. “But I accidentally went too far, and we had to shave all of it off. The result was horrifying. Really tested my love for him. Luckily, it grew back in a few weeks.”

As Kyungsoo is contemplating the old man’s stories and his newest revelation that his old flame has visited him, he walks into the street unaware of an oncoming car. There’s loud honking and several gasps the car attempts to brake. Kyungsoo turns as the car comes barreling towards him, but he’s frozen in that moment.

Suddenly, a strong hand yanks him out of the way and the two of them go tumbling down together.

“Are you okay? What were you thinking?” the man asks from above him. Kyungsoo opens his eyes and is relieved to see that he isn’t missing any limbs.

“Yes, thank you. I’m so sorry,” Kyungsoo says as he hurriedly sits up and bows his head in apology and thanks.

“It’s alright, just watch where you’re going,” the stranger says as he helps Kyungsoo up. He looks angry, but Kyungsoo isn’t sure if that’s just his face.

Before he can say anything else, the stranger leaves Kyungsoo standing on the sidewalk. Berating himself for being so careless, he turns to walk to the stoplight when he realizes something is very wrong.

He can’t find the stoplight. Turning in a circle, he finally notices that the assisted living facility is gone, in its place an open air market with people yelling at each other as they heckle for prices. Kyungsoo rubs his eyes and turns to face the street.

He stares in shock at the scene in front of him. Gone are the paved streets and shiny cars. In its place, there are horses and cobbled roads. Kyungsoo whips his head around to look for any familiar buildings, but they’re all gone. The tallest building is a barber shop with three floors.

Rooted on the spot, someone walks right into him and drops a large, bulky briefcase and a few pens. When Kyungsoo doesn’t move to give the man room to pick his things up, he gets a hard poke on the back of his knees.

“It’s fine if you aren’t going to help me pick up my things, but could you please move over?”

Kyungsoo looks down wordlessly, not hearing him, and the man must notice the lost look on his face because the annoyed expression is gone and he gives him a wide-eyed look of concern.

“Are you okay?” He moves one of Kyungsoo’s feet over as he picks up his last pen and gets up, stuffing the pens messily into the front pocket of his tweed jacket. He waves a hand in front of Kyungsoo’s face, and Kyungsoo barely responds.

“Ah,” the man says as he checks his watch. “I’m going to be late.”

Kyungsoo continues to stare at his surroundings unsure of what to do and unable to process what’s going on.

“I’m such a nice person,” the man grumbles to himself, before shifting the briefcase to one hand and holding the other one out.

Kyungsoo looks down at his hand and it seems to shake him out of his daze although he's still very disoriented.

“Byun Baekhyun,” the man says, still holding his hand out. “You look like you need some help.”

Kyungsoo just looks from his face back to his hand again blankly.

“Right,” Baekhyun clears his throat and withdraws his hand. “Um, let’s just go.”

He puts a hand on Kyungsoo’s shoulder and begins pushing him in the direction of the barber shop. When the door opens, a smiley man, in the middle of shaving the beard off of a customer, looks up.

“Baekhyun, have you brought another customer?”

“Hey, don’t look away!” the customer says in alarm when the barber barely misses cutting his chin.

“I’m good enough that I don’t need to look,” the barber says, but he looks back down.

“No, not a customer,” Baekhyun says as he leads Kyungsoo to the back of the shop.

“Taeyeon stopped by again,” the barber calls out to Baekhyun.

A conflicted expression crosses Baekhyun’s face as he calls back out to the man “Thanks, hyung.”

Kyungsoo is still looking at his surrounding in a bit of a daze, albeit much more aware than before.

“Here we go,” Baekhyun ushers Kyungsoo into a storage room in the back. Dimly lit, it smells of shaving cream and a familiar lingering scent that Kyungsoo can’t quite make out.

Baekhyun pulls a stool out from under the small table and pulls Kyungsoo to it. “Sit down.”

Kyungsoo sits and looks around the room. There are boxes everywhere save for the small area they’re sitting at.

“I’m going to get some water and let my boss know I’m going to be late. Don’t go anywhere.”

Baekhyun sheds his tweed jacket as he leaves and Kyungsoo can barely make out a surprisingly broad back before the door shuts. Looking out through the small, dirty window, he can see more of the same scene as before. Horses, people dressed in old-fashioned clothes, and one very old style car.

Kyungsoo closes his eyes for a second, trying to take everything in. It’s been a matter of minutes. Did he black out and end up in the middle of some period set? He pulls out his phone, and it turns on. Breathing a sigh of relief, he waits for it to load to the lock screen, but after a minute or two, nothing changes. Furrowing his eyebrows, Kyungsoo shuts it off and then turns it on again. It was probably just a small glitch. It should turn on right…

“Now,” Kyungsoo says in frustration. The screen turns to a dark grey, but that’s as far as it gets. No logo, no noise, just a dark screen.

Baekhyun walks in just then with a cup of water, his tie loosened and sleeves pushed up.

“Now?” Baekhyun parrots. “Glad to see you can talk.”

He hands Kyungsoo the cup of water and sits on the edge of the table, feet barely reaching the ground.

“What is that?” he asks cocking his head to the side as he stares at Kyungsoo’s phone.

“My phone,” Kyungsoo says, a little perturbed by the question.

“What do you mean?” Baekhyun holds a hand out, palm up, and Kyungsoo cautiously hands him his phone.

Flipping it around with his long fingers, Baekhyun studies it. “It’s so smooth.”

Kyungsoo manages a nod as he watches Baekhyun handle his phone, ready to catch it should it fall.

“So,” Baekhyun says, handing Kyungsoo back his phone and smiling at him. “Are you feeling better now…” He looks at Kyungsoo expectantly.

“Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo,” he says catching on. He takes a sip of the water and tries to sort out his thoughts. “Um, where are we?”

“Bucheon…” Baekhyun says looking at Kyungsoo with a slightly worried expression again. “Where did you think we were?”

“Bucheon? Not Busan?” Kyungsoo says, looking around the storage room again.

“Busan? Wow, you are really lost,” Baekhyun says as he stands up. “Are you feeling good to walk?”

Kyungsoo nods, setting his cup down and getting up.

“Okay, do you know where you’re going?”

Kyungsoo shakes his head as he follows Baekhyun out to the front of the shop.

Baekhyun grabs his tweed blazer and his hulking briefcase again and points to a large building down, what appears to be, the main road.

“If you want to make it to Busan, you can take that train.”

“The what?” Kyungsoo says following Baekhyun’s finger to the train station.

“The… train?” This time Baekhyun does look at him like he’s crazy.

Kyungsoo can feel his cheeks heat up underneath Baekhyun’s incredulous stare and he nods.

Baekhyun checks his watch and lets out a small gasp. “Okay, I really have to get going now.”

Kyungsoo watches as Baekhyun gives him a quick bow before getting lost among the rest of the people on the street. He decides to follow Baekhyun’s advice and walks to the train station. There aren’t any other options at the moment anyway.

When he gets there he checks the times and sees that there’s a train leaving in twenty minutes. He gets in line to buy the tickets, at this point just blocking out whatever seems odd to him in his surroundings.

“One ticket to Busan, please,” Kyungsoo says, pulling out his wallet and noticing the fact that there are no computers to process his purchase and taking cash out instead.

“Excuse me, what do you think you’re playing at?” the employee asks as he hands Kyungsoo back his money.

“W-What?” Kyungsoo says looking down at his bills in confusion. He paid the correct amount.

“Please give Korean money, sir,” the employee says in annoyance.

Kyungsoo looks back down at his bills.

“What do you mean? This _is_ Korean money,” Kyungsoo says holding up his bills.

“Sir, please come back when you have actual money.”

The woman behind him pushes him to the side and he hears a few murmurs of, “A swindler?”.

Blushing furiously, Kyungsoo puts his wallet back into his backpack, before quickly walking back towards the direction of the street he was on earlier.

Actual money? As he tries to wrap his mind around what just happened, he makes eye contact with a horse walking alongside him and nearly walks headlong into a lamppost.

 _There are horses here_ , Kyungsoo reminds himself. As he continues making his way to the barber shop, he sees a colorful calendar out of the corner of his eye. In big red font, the number 1957 is at the top.

Kyungsoo walks towards it, almost running into a few people as he does and reaching his hand out to the calendar.

“1957, that’s an old calendar,” Kyungsoo says to himself, but something in him tells him that it isn’t that old. “June.”

Kyungsoo turns to face the street and looks at it. Really looks at it, as everything begins to fall into place. The horse-drawn wagons and the rare amount of cars. The money problem and the old fashioned clothes.

He takes a deep breath and thinks. If he isn’t going crazy and he was actually sent sixty years back into the past, what would he do? There were more than enough movies, books, and TV shows about situations like these.

First he needs to return to where it happened. Kyungsoo looks around and realizes that he can’t quite pinpoint when and where he appeared here. He had almost gotten hit by a car, and then someone pulled him back before he could get hit. After that, he had looked for the crosswalk, when he realized that there wasn’t a crosswalk and…

Kyungsoo clutches his head, completely lost at this point. Remembering the barber shop Baekhyun brought him to, Kyungsoo lets go of his head and begins walking towards it faster. There isn’t anyone else that he knows, but maybe he can ask a few more questions and figure out an escape plan. Maybe some unnatural phenomenon had happened right before he appeared, or the weather was odd and he needed to be struck by lightning.

Walking determinedly, Kyungsoo opens the door to the shop and is greeted by the barber from before.

“Welcome! How can I help you?” Before Kyungsoo can answer, the barber’s eyes light up. “Oh, you’re Baekhyun’s friend.”

Kyungsoo bows and goes with it. “Yes, I am.”

“Well, if you’re looking for him he’s at the paper. Big day, his article is going to be on the front page.” The man smiles, his pride for Baekhyun obvious. “I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Baekbeom, Baekhyun’s hyung.”

Kyungsoo bows again. “Nice to meet you. I’m Do Kyungsoo.”

The man puts a hand to his chin. “Hm… Never heard of you, but it’s nice to meet you as well!”

The bell on the door behind Kyungsoo rings and Baekbeom greets the person behind him. “Taeyeon! Are you looking for Baekhyun as well?”

Kyungsoo turns around to see a young woman dressed impeccably come in.

“As well? Who else is looking for him?” she asks as she gives Baekbeom a hug.

“This young man right here,” Baekbeom says, pointing Kyungsoo out.

Taeyeon turns and gives Kyungsoo an impish grin.

“Hi there,” she greets.

“Hello.” Kyungsoo bows.

“Why are you looking for Baekhyun?” Taeyeon asks.

“I need something from him,” Kyungsoo lies. “He forgot to return something to me.”

Baekbeom laughs and goes to grab a broom to sweep up the hair on the ground. “As if that isn’t a regular occurrence.”

Taeyeon holds a gloved hand out and gestures for Kyungsoo to give her his arm. “Let’s go see him together.” Turning to Baekbeom, she says, “I assume he’s at the paper?”

“Yes, he is,” Baekbeom says.

Kyungsoo gives Taeyeon his arm and she links her arm through his. “What’s your name again?”

Kyungsoo can smell her flowery perfume and he doesn’t think he minds it. “Kyungsoo.”

Taeyeon gives another mischievous grin and they walk out of the shop.

“How long have you known Baekhyun?” Taeyeon asks as they walk down the street. She must be an important person because quite a few people turn to bow and greet her.

“A while,” Kyungsoo says, the lie slipping right off his tongue. “How long have you known him?”

Taeyeon looks at Kyungsoo and narrows her eyes. “Does he not talk about me?”

Kyungsoo feels goosebumps rise when she stares at him, but a moment later she begins laughing.

“I’m kidding, Kyungsoo-ssi.” She guides him around the corner and another few people greet her. “Baekhyun is really busy nowadays, so I don’t see him as often as I’d like. Perks of being promoted.”

She squeezes Kyungsoo’s bicep to get his attention. “Right?”

“Um, yes. That sounds like something that happens when you get promoted.” Kyungsoo has yet to be promoted at his job.

“What do you do?” Taeyeon asks as they enter a building with the words the Journal, above the door.

Kyungsoo racks his brain trying to think of a vague answer as he takes in the lobby of the building. There’s cheap carpeting and yellowing wallpaper, but everything seems to be spotless.

“Just odd jobs, here and there.”

Taeyeon hums in agreement. “I’m the same.” Kyungsoo doubts it based on her clothes and the way she holds herself, but he keeps his observation to himself.

She pulls him to a door on the side and pushes it open, her yellow dress swishing against the door frame.

The other side of the door is the complete opposite of the lobby. People are running all over the place, papers are flying everywhere, and the sound of typewriters clacking away seems inescapable. A cacophony of voices, each trying to be heard over the other, clashes throughout the room.

Taeyeon must visit very often because a few people greet her as noona, and she gives a charming smile back. A few spare glances go Kyungsoo’s way, but most are too busy staring at Taeyeon or struggling to follow what everyone else is saying. When they finally reach the back of the room, she pulls Kyungsoo through another door.

The din from next door quiets down immediately and there are only about ten people in this room.

“Taeyeon,” a man says with a grin and wave of the hand.

Immediately, everyone looks up and seems pleased to see her.

“Hello, is Baekhyun here?”

The man who greeted her first groans. “Why not me? Why must it be him?” he asks dramatically.

Someone throws a wadded up ball of paper at him and everyone laughs as he rubs the back of his head pouting.

Another man speaks up. “He’s in the next room going through the final draft. Checking over for errors and such.”

Taeyeon nods and gives another smile. “Thanks, Junmyeon.”

“No problem,” he says before turning back to his papers. Kyungsoo gets the feeling that Junmyeon is very straight-laced.

Before they can walk through the final door though, the pouty man says, “And who are you?”

Taeyeon must be very impatient because she turns around and shakes her head saying, “Not right now, Jongdae. We need to see, Baekhyun,” and then pulls him through the last door before Kyungsoo can say anything.

When they enter the room, the smell of ink hits Kyungsoo full force. At the end of the room, a board with each page of, what Kyungsoo assumes to be, the newspaper tacked on and is missing the first page.

Kyungsoo sees a familiar face bent down over a large page.

“Baekhyun,” Taeyeon says, letting go of Kyungsoo’s arm and walking over to Baekhyun’s side.

Baekhyun looks up in surprise, and Kyungsoo amusedly notes the smear of ink on his cheek.

“Tae…yeon,” Baekhyun says, looking decidedly less thrilled than Taeyeon.

“I brought one of your friends,” Taeyeon says, clearly noticing the difference in their reactions. She doesn’t move to put an arm on him, just looks at him with something like sadness.

Baekhyun looks up to see Kyungsoo standing by the door. Kyungsoo gives a little bow and hopes that Baekhyun won’t call him out.

“Oh, yes, my friend,” Baekhyun’s expression changes as he drops the paper he’s looking at and goes to put an arm around him. “Long time no see! I need to-”

“Give that thing back,” Kyungsoo interrupts as he awkwardly puts an arm around Baekhyun as well.

“Right, that thing. I think I have it somewhere,” Baekhyun looks around surreptitiously. “There!” He points to the men’s bathroom. “I left it in there the other day. The janitor said that he left it there.”

He pushes Kyungsoo with his hand flat on the right side of Kyungsoo’s shoulder as they continue to keep their arms thrown on each other.

“I’m sorry, Taeyeon. This thing is probably going to take some time,” Baekhyun says apologetically, but Taeyeon isn’t fooled.

“It’s okay, I have time.”

Baekhyun laughs uncomfortably. “My friend here came all the way from Busan to see me. I don’t think it’d be polite just to let him go.” Baekhyun turns his head to face Kyungsoo’s, trying to tell him something.

“Right?”

“Um, I mean-”

Taeyeon gives a little laugh, that doesn’t sound very amused.

“You should have told me you came from Busan. I’ll come back another time. Catching up with old friends is always such a pleasure.” She pulls her yellow hat down over her black curls and walks back towards the door. “I’ll see you some other time, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun nods and bows. “Goodbye, noona.”

After she leaves, Baekhyun drops his arm from Kyungsoo’s shoulders and faces him.

“How can I help you?”

Kyungsoo hesitates as he thinks about what he’s going to say.

“I…I need some help,” Kyungsoo starts, and Baekhyun immediately eyes him up and down suspiciously.

“What kind of help?”

“Um, I just need to know…” Kyungsoo pauses again as he thinks of a way to put his request. “If your brother is hiring.”

Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo confused. “Hiring? Do you need a job?”

Kyungsoo nods. “Yes, someone pickpocketed me and I have no money.” He doesn’t know where the quick tongue came from, but he isn’t going to fight it.

“From my brother’s shop to the train station?” Baekhyun asks, looking him up and down once again, this time a little more pityingly.

“Uh, yes,” Kyungsoo says and tries to keep his eyes from darting around the room nervously.

“Okay. You could’ve just asked my brother, but he is in some need of help. The only other person who was working is on maternity leave, but she’s probably not coming back.”

Kyungsoo breathes a sigh of relief and bows low. “Thank you.”

Baekhyun looks even more uncomfortable than when Taeyeon was in the room and hurries to get Kyungsoo from a ninety-degree angle back into a straight line.

“It’s no problem,” Baekhyun says as he gets back up to go look at the paper. “You should go home or to where you’re staying for now.”

Kyungsoo thanks him once more and leaves.

When he makes his way out the door, Taeyeon has left and all the men in the room look up to see who it is.

“You!” Jongdae says loudly, and one of the men pull him back down into his seat.

Kyungsoo doesn’t move as he looks right at Jongdae, not too afraid of him after the day he’s had.

“Yes?” Kyungsoo says in a detached voice.

“Never mind,” Jongdae mumbles into his papers, intimidated by Kyungsoo’s take-no-shit demeanor.

Kyungsoo eventually finds his way out, only to realize that he has nowhere to go. Sighing a little, he finds a bench and sits down on it. Kyungsoo leans back and stares up at the sky, taking off his backpack and putting it in his lap.

“What do I do?” he says to no one in particular.

He ends up spending over two hours sitting there and racking his brains for an explanation as to what’s going on. When he finally gives up, Kyungsoo goes through a checklist, feeling oddly like he’s trying to survive in the desert.

He pulls out a phone, a charger for his phone, some peppermint gum (not his), and his wallet, which contains one hundred thousand won - not that it’s any use here. Going through the largest section in his backpack, he pulls out a notebook he has for chapter eleven to fourteen on the textbook wedged in his bag as well. There's also a spare pair of underwear and socks, which Kyungsoo wisely chooses not to pull out. A pair of headphones, some loose change, no magical talisman that transported him to where he was at the moment.

Kyungsoo puts everything back into his backpack zips it up. History was never his strong suit, so Kyungsoo only knows small facts about the 1950s because of the harabeoji back at the nursing home.

Pulling himself up, Kyungsoo decides to familiarize himself with the village and ends up looking for a good place to slum it. The town is annoyingly developed and any spots that Kyungsoo could’ve taken are already occupied.

He ends up back in front of the barber shop, unwilling to go in and ask for another favor from Baekhyun or his brother. In the end, Baekhyun comes home after work to see Kyungsoo standing outside the shop like a zombie.

“Kyungsoo-ssi? That’s your name, right?” Baekhyun asks as he steps in front of Kyungsoo, checking to see if he’s still alive.

“Huh, yeah,” Kyungsoo responds, tearing his gaze away from the front of the store to Baekhyun.

“Are you just going to stand there? I think you’ve scared away a few customers already,” Baekhyun says as he stands next to Kyungsoo and looks at the store. “Although, this is a pretty good angle of the store.”

Kyungsoo looks at Baekhyun, confused.

“What?”

“I’m assuming that’s why you’ve been standing here since one,” Baekhyun says. He checks his watch. “It’s five.”

Kyungsoo takes a look at Baekhyun’s watch and quietly murmurs, “You’re right.”

“Do you want me to ask my hyung now or tomorrow?” Baekhyun asks with a smile when he sees Kyungsoo peering over Baekhyun’s arm to take a closer look at the watch. “It’s a gift I got from my hyung when I go promoted. Nice, isn’t it?”

Kyungsoo nods, but furrows his brows. He’s definitely seen a watch like that before.

“So are you going to just stand in front of here for the rest of the day or come in?” Baekhyun asks pulling his watch away from Kyungsoo’s eyes and lightly putting two fingers underneath Kyungsoo’s chin to tilt his head up. “Up here.”

Kyungsoo lets out a nervous little laugh at their proximity and moves his head away from Baekhyun’s hand.

“I think I’ll just come tomorrow if that’s okay. I need to…” Kyungsoo looks around the street. “…recuperate.”

“Recuperate from what?” Baekhyun asks curiously.

“My trip,” Kyungsoo answers. Everything that comes out of his mouth seems to be some vague lie at this point.

“Okay,” Baekhyun says with a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, Kyungsoo-ssi.” He gives a little bow of the head and heads into the shop where his brother is currently cutting a little boy’s hair.

Kyungsoo stares at the shop for another five minutes, trying to figure out where he should go, when he sees Baekhyun walk back out to the front. Moving quickly, Kyungsoo walks away. He doesn’t need to be pegged as a stalker from the only source of income he has.

Finding his way to another bench he saw earlier, Kyungsoo makes sure he’s out of sight before finally slumping down on it. He doesn’t know if he can sleep and he doesn’t know if he wants to try. Laying down on the bench with the backpack as his pillow, Kyungsoo is relieved to remember that it’s only June here. In 2017, it was the middle of October, and the nights were very cold. Kyungsoo only has his knit sweater and jeans with his crappy gym shoes that were several years too old based on the holes forming at his toes.

Closing his eyes, he drifts in and out of sleep, unable to completely relax because of the reminder that he’s vulnerable where he is. At some point, the evening turns into night and night gives way to daybreak.

Kyungsoo still has all his things, although at one point he had to fight off a touchy drunk and some stray dogs that were looking for food. He doesn’t move as he looks up at the sky. Half of it is still dark purple, but the other is pink and orange. How he went from walking home to sleeping outside, he doesn’t want to remember, but he reminds himself that he’s going to get a job and hopefully find a cheap inn to stay at. Giving himself a silent ”Hwaiting!” and a fist pump, Kyungsoo doesn’t feel any better, in fact, he feels ridiculous, but he forces himself up, when suddenly he hears a gasp.

“Kyungsoo-ssi?” Baekhyun walks up from the sidewalk, wearing a loose button up and some wrinkled slacks.

Kyungsoo jumps up and tries to make it look like he just got there. “Wow, what a day. I was just taking a walk and the bench looked very well made.”

“That bench has a missing leg,” Baekhyun points out. And, shit, he’s right.

“It’s an interesting bench,” Kyungsoo says, forcing out a laugh.

Baekhyun looks at him like he’s crazy again, but walks up to Kyungsoo. “You didn’t sleep out here last night, did you?”

“No,” Kyungsoo says, shaking his head. Lying worked for him yesterday, maybe it’d work today. The expression on Baekhyun’s face tells him that he’s not buying it.

“You have nowhere to go? At all?” Baekhyun says as he sits down next to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo deflates when Baekhyun says this.

“I have this…interesting bench.” He pats the bench and internally cringes at himself.

“You want to come back with me?” Baekhyun asks as he gets up.

Kyungsoo looks up in wonder as he gets up. “I couldn’t. That’d be too much.”

Baekhyun watches as Kyungsoo packs up his things and slings his backpack over his shoulders. “But I can work for it.”

They look at each other for a second, the light still barely there, casting colorful shadows across their faces. Baekhyun breaks out into a grin as Kyungsoo looks at him with determination, and Kyungsoo is struck, for a second, by how handsome a kind stranger can look.

“That sounds good,” Baekhyun says as he walks back onto the sidewalk, looking back to make sure Kyungsoo is following him. “But you won’t get as much pay. You know that right?”

“Yes, of course,” Kyungsoo says as he matches Baekhyun’s strides.

When they arrive at the shop, Baekbeom is already up and preparing everything for the day.

“Hyung, I got you some help,” Baekhyun says as he pulls Kyungsoo out from behind him.

Kyungsoo bows his ninety-degree bow and Baekhyun and Baekbeom both rush forward to straighten him up.

“Save that for the customers, not us,” Baekbeom says. The two brothers both look a little flustered at how polite Kyungsoo is.

“Yes, sir,” Kyungsoo says. He needs this job and he’s willing to bow lower if need be. He’s already given up on finding his way back. For now. First, he needs to be able to support himself.

“I prefer hyung,” Baekbeom says and Kyungsoo notices that he has the same smile as Baekhyun.

“Hyung,” Kyungsoo repeats.

“Alright!” Baekhyun says, clapping his hands together. “Now that that is done and over with, I’m going to show Kyungsoo his room.

“Room?” Baekbeom asks looking confused.

“Oh right, we’ll pay him in food and board and if he does exceptionally well, money.” Baekhyun pushes Kyungsoo towards the back storage room, and Baekbeom can only open and close his mouth as he tries to think of what he wants to say.

“Is this really okay?” Kyungsoo asks as Baekhyun leads him to a door hidden behind a curtain in the storage room.

“Yes, of course. As long as you’re a good guest.” Baekhyun turns and smiles at him. “I don’t have to worry about that, do I?”

Kyungsoo shakes his head as they begin climbing up the set of hidden stairs. They’re creaky and narrow, but Baekhyun walks up them quickly completely avoiding the wobbly one that Kyungsoo almost falls over. Baekhyun reaches out and grabs him by the shoulder. The button up he’s wearing is translucent with the rays of sunlight shining through the window at the end of the hallway. Kyungsoo can see Baekhyun’s arm muscles straining to keep him from falling so he scrambles to find his balance again.

Once Kyungsoo gets pulled upright, they continue up the stairs. When they get to the top step, Baekhyun puts a finger to his lips. Kyungsoo doesn’t question him and treads lightly as they make it to the second floor. There’s a mess of toys, so he and Baekhyun carefully avoid stepping on any of them - a feat because they almost seem to cover the entire floor. Turning to go down another hall, Baekhyun checks one of the rooms. Seemingly satisfied, he gently shuts the door and waves Kyungsoo down to the end of the hall. There he reaches up and pulls a string, letting a ladder creak down. Gesturing for Kyungsoo to go first, Baekhyun keeps a hand on his backpack, making sure Kyungsoo doesn’t trip while going up.

When they both get to the third floor, Kyungsoo looks down at the square in the floor and Baekhyun pulls the ladder back up.

“Sorry, pregnant noona and irritable baby in the house. Don’t want to make either of them angry. But anyway, this is my floor,” Baekhyun says as they both stand up. It’s opened up to a small kitchen and Baekhyun points to a door on their right. “That’s my room.” He points to the right of that. “That’ll be yours.”

Kyungsoo nods taking notice of the slightly messy state of the kitchen and the table in the middle of the room. There are papers all over the place with a few dirty dishes piled in the sink. There’s also a huge map of the world and a few places circled on it and a note written in messy hangul pinned onto it.

“This whole place is that messy, so you’re probably going to have to clean your room up a bit.” Baekhyun looks around the apartment, a little embarrassed. “I’ve been busy meeting deadlines, but I got a small break after yesterday, so I should have some time to clean up.”

They both take another look around the room as Kyungsoo already begins forming a plan on how to clean it.

“Anyway,” Baekhyun says opening the door to Kyungsoo’s room. “Here it is.”

Kyungsoo steps into the room and is struck by the scent of lavender. “Lavender?”

Baekhyun looks mildly surprised. “Yeah, lavender. Sorry, it’s my favorite smell. It’s all around the house usually, but I aired out all the rooms yesterday. Except for this one.”

Kyungsoo nods and surveys the room. There’s a wooden bed, closet, and nightstand, all covered in a fine layer of dust. A window facing away from the street streams in sunlight and there are moth-eaten curtains failing to keep prying eyes out with the many holes in it. Kyungsoo sets his backpack down and the ground and pulls the blanket off of the bed. He and Baekhyun both begin coughing as the dust rises up from the blanket.

“This was my grandma’s old room before she passed away.” Baekhyun tries to wave the dust away from his face. “I hope you’re not superstitious.”

Kyungsoo opens the windows and begins pulling the sheets off the bed. “No, I’m not.”

Baekhyun nods as he watches Kyungsoo strip the bed of its sheets. “Do you need help?”

“No, thank you. I think I can handle this,” Kyungsoo answers.

“Okay, I’m going to go eat breakfast. The shop opens in about two hours, but we’ll need at least half an hour to set things up,” Baekhyun says.

“Okay, I should be done in about fifteen minutes.”

Baekhyun shakes his head. “No, go take a shower.”

Kyungsoo looks down at himself and realizes he’s _a bit_ disheveled from sleeping outside all night long. “Oh, right.”

“Do you have a change of clothes?” Baekhyun asks as he leans against the doorframe. Kyungsoo has opened the window and begins hanging the blanket from the curtain rod.

Baekhyun walks over and grabs one side of the blanket, helping Kyungsoo out.

“Thanks,” Kyungsoo says. “And I don’t have a change of clothes, but I can just wash these.”

Baekhyun reaches over and tugs at his sweater. “No way am I letting you go out like that again. Wait one second.”

Baekhyun leaves the room and Kyungsoo stops batting the blanket for a second to look out the window. It’s not that hot yet, but with no air conditioning, Kyungsoo doesn’t know how he’ll survive the day. Yesterday was fine because Kyungsoo was in too much shock notice anything, but now that he’s a little more settled in, he can feel the heat slowly permeate the air.

Taking a deep breath, he notices some people right outside the back of the shop, messing around with a cat.

“Kitty, you’re so cute.” A light kick.

“Aw, aren’t you just so sweet?” Another kick.

“The cutest,” the last boy says before going in for a real kick.

“Hey!” Kyungsoo shouts from the window. The boys freeze, not getting the last kick in. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Run!” They scram, and Kyungsoo and the cat stare at each other for a second, before the cat runs off.

Baekhyun comes back in just then, and Kyungsoo whirls around.

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun asks as he hands Kyungsoo a set of clothes.

“Nothing, there were just some kids messing around in the back,” Kyungsoo says, accepting the clothes gratefully.

“Oh, I know who you’re talking about.” Baekhyun looks Kyungsoo up and down. “These are mine, so I don’t know how well they’ll fit you. We can just roll things up if we need to.”

“Okay,” Kyungsoo says as he sets the clothes down, waiting for Baekhyun to leave.

“Okay,” Baekhyun repeats with a smirk. “I’ll leave. The bathroom’s at the end of the hall by the way.”

Baekhyun leaves, his button up completely untucked now.

Kyungsoo brings his backpack and the clothes Baekhyun gave him as he walks to the bathroom. When he finally closes the door, he sets the things down on the lid of the toilet and takes a look at the bathroom. There’s a porcelain tub with claw feet. The bathroom floor is tile unlike the wood throughout the rest of the house. A sink and mirror are in front of him and there’s a light that hangs precariously by a single cord.

Kyungsoo looks at his reflection and gasps, patting hands to his face. There are dark circles under his eyes, his hair is all over the place, and he has something that he prays is just dirt on his face. How had Baekbeom been willing to hire him?

Kyungsoo shakes these thoughts out of his head and begins taking off his clothes. Might as well show that he can look presentable now. Stepping into the tub, he runs the water waiting for it to grow hot and looks next to him. There’s a bar of soap and a bottle of something that isn’t labelled. Kyungsoo is completely undressed, so he decides not to ask Baekhyun and settles for just using the bar of soap.

Still a little curious, he opens the unlabelled bottle and puts his nose to it. He almost doesn’t smell it because of the overpowering aroma from his room earlier, but there’s definitely a hint of lavenders. He can’t help but think back to the harabeoji who always had a dried bag of lavenders in his room. It had become a welcoming familiar scent and smelling it here of all places makes him breathe a sigh of relief.

Under the water, Kyungsoo finally allows himself to take a moment. He stands with his face facing the shower head and thinks about what happened, but, once again, he finds that he has no idea where to start.

Mindful of his time constraints, Kyungsoo only takes thirty seconds to sag against the tiled walls, before scrubbing himself off and coming out. When he reaches out for a towel, he realizes that there are none. Looking around, Kyungsoo sighs and opens the door a little.

“Excuse me?” he calls out, hoping that Baekhyun is still upstairs.

“Yes?” he hears him say back.

“Do you have any towels?” Kyungsoo asks.

“Oh, right. I forgot about that, sorry.”

He hears some shuffling and then Baekhyun hurries over with a small towel.

“I just did laundry, didn’t have time to put everything away.” Baekhyun hands him the towel but doesn’t let go. “Are you shy?”

Kyungsoo looks at Baekhyun with water still running down his face in small rivulets. “What?”

“You don’t need to feel uncomfortable. We’re all guys here,” Baekhyun says kindly, but his brown eyes say something else.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kyungsoo says as he tries to tug the towel out of Baekhyun’s hands. He’s really starting to feel the breeze coming from the hallway.

Baekhyun gives him a smile and lets go so abruptly, Kyungsoo almost falls over and the door opens a little more than he would like. Baekhyun immediately surveys him interestedly.

“You’re not that bad,” Baekhyun says looking slightly below Kyungsoo’s waist. “I don’t know why you were so shy-”

Kyungsoo shuts the door in mortification.

“Haha, sorry, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t hiding some weird disease or something,” Baekhyun calls through the door, and Kyungsoo can only cringe at the situation.

“It’s okay,” Kyungsoo says as he begins drying himself off.

There’s no response from the other side and Kyungsoo begins dressing himself. The shirt Baekhyun gave him is another button up, but the pants are some odd jeans that cut off at the shins and billow about oddly.

Kyungsoo shoves all his things into his backpack and comes out.

Baekhyun is sitting at the desk pushed up against the wall with the map of the world. He looks up when he hears Kyungsoo and begins snickering.

“What?” Kyungsoo asks looking down at the clothes. They didn’t look that weird to him in the bathroom.

“N-Nothing,” Baekhyun says between laughs. “It’s just-” He gets up and tugs at Kyungsoo’s sleeve. “You look so much smaller like this.”

Kyungsoo lifts his arm up and sees that the sleeves reach past his fingertips while the shoulders hang off his frame loosely. He looks at Baekhyun’s shoulders and sees that they’re much broader than his own.

“It’s okay, we can just roll things up,” Baekhyun says as he pulls Kyungsoo a little closer and begins rolling up the sleeves.

Kyungsoo stands there unsure of what to do as Baekhyun continues very slowly. His fingers are long and careful, and when he reaches the end of one he shoots Kyungsoo a grin.

“Like that, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo parrots, and Baekhyun moves onto the next sleeve.

After finishing the second one, Baekhyun cocks his head and backs up.

“Those pants don’t fit you very well,” he says bluntly.

Kyungsoo stretches out the material at the side and nods. “They’re a bit big, but it’s fine.”

“No, it looks funny,” Baekhyun says as he reaches for Kyungsoo’s waist. Kyungsoo takes a quick step back in alarm, and Baekhyun looks up in confusion.

“What’s wrong?” Baekhyun asks.

“N-Nothing, I just,” Kyungsoo laughs awkwardly and takes a step forward. “Just caught off guard.”

Baekhyun grins and says, “Sorry, I’ve been told that I have the tendency to be a little touchy.”

Kyungsoo shakes his head. “It’s fine.”

Baekhyun reaches for his waist again and hooks his thumbs inside the waistband.

“For now we can just roll these up.” Baekhyun begins doing so. “But I’ll give you some better pants after we eat breakfast. You’re going to have to help me go through the laundry.”

“Alright,” Kyungsoo says, feeling the ends of the pants go up.

Baekhyun hums under his breath as he continues, and Kyungsoo swallows feeling a bit uncomfortable.

“Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun hums out.

“Yes?” Kyungsoo says looking down at Baekhyun’s hands.

“Hm?” Baekhyun says looking up.

“You said my name.”

“Oh, I was just testing it out,” Baekhyun says with no other explanation as he finishes rolling the pants up. “All done.”

Kyungsoo looks at his reflection in the window behind Baekhyun and he can’t help but think of a shipwreck survivor. The pants are definitely a bad fit, but the shirt is fine if not a little loose.

“Let’s go down for breakfast.” Baekhyun adds, “Kyungsoo-ssi.”

Kyungsoo nods, a little unsure of why Baekhyun is so interested in his name and follows Baekhyun downstairs. They both become very quiet as they walk through the second floor, but once they reach the first one, Baekhyun calls out, “We’re here, hyung!”

His brother calls back from somewhere beyond the storage room, “Over here!”

Baekhyun walks easily through the storage room to another hidden doorway in the back. In it there’s a kitchen and Baekbeom is putting steaming dishes out on the table.

“Looking better, Kyungsoo!” Baekbeom says with a smile.

Kyungsoo gives a nod of acknowledgment and a “Thank you” as he and Baekhyun seat themselves at the table.

“We usually have breakfast upstairs, but my wife is sleeping.” Baekbeom leans in as if she can hear them. “She’s been very irritable lately.”

Baekhyun nods as he begins wolfing down the food. Baekbeom sits down next to Baekhyun looking at him with fond disgust.

“I told hyung to wait another year, but I guess he couldn’t,” Baekhyun says through mouthfuls of rice and both Baekbeom and Kyungsoo choke on their food.

Abruptly, Baekhyun drops his chopsticks and falls over clutching his shin.

“Hyung!”

Baekbeom continues eating, giving Kyungsoo a cheeky grin. “If he ever bothers you don’t be afraid to resort to violence.”

“Hey! What kind of morals are you going to teach your children?” Baekhyun says groaning in pain.

Kyungsoo has his chopsticks halfway to his mouth as he watches Baekhyun groan and moan about his pain.

“The kid’s a hapkido champ, don’t worry about him,” Baekbeom says, gesturing for Kyungsoo to eat up.

Baekhyun stops groaning for a second to glare at his brother. “So? Doesn’t mean I’m invincible.”

“No, but it does mean that your pain tolerance is much higher,” Baekbeom says matter of factly.

Kyungsoo lifts the chopsticks to his mouth and nods. He hasn’t been back home in a few years and being back in a home setting makes him a little nostalgic. As he thinks about his family, he realizes, with a jolt, that his parents haven’t even been born yet.

“Is the food not good?” Baekbeom asks worriedly when Kyungsoo freezes.

“No, no,” Kyungsoo says, taking a big serving of soup and rice, before promptly shoving it into his mouth. “It’s really good. Really good.”

Kyungsoo swallows the food trying to concentrate on anything other than his family. He can feel tears welling up but he blinks them back and continues eating with a ferocity Baekhyun and Baekbeom are surprised to see.

“Don’t eat too fast,” Baekhyun says, handing him a cup of water. He and Baekbeom exchange a glance, seeing that something isn’t right, but neither of them pry.

Kyungsoo accepts the water and takes a huge gulp. _I have to look for a way out. I’m never going to see them again if I don’t. I’m never going to see them again. How did I get here? I’m never going to see them again. Will I ever find a way out? Will I ever see them again? I’m never going to see them again I’m never going to see them again I’m never going to see them-_

“Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun has a hand on Kyungsoo’s back when he almost chokes on the food.

Kyungsoo waves him away and takes another gulp of water. “Sorry, I haven’t eaten in a day.”

Baekbeom’s mouth drops open and he begins piling food into Kyungsoo’s bowl. “Eat up, it’s only six thirty. We have at least fifteen more minutes.”

Baekhyun nods in agreement. “We don’t open till eight. Take your time.”

Kyungsoo looks up at the two brothers. They’re both looking at him with concern and Kyungsoo thanks fate for being kind enough to, at least, send some kind people his way after being dumped so unceremoniously in a new place.

After finishing his food, Kyungsoo helps Baekhyun wash the dishes as Baekbeom goes upstairs to check on his wife and child.

“Do you have a niece or nephew?” Kyungsoo asks as he dries the dishes Baekhyun hands him.

“Niece,” Baekhyun says face scrunching in concentration as he scrubs particularly hard on a stain that won’t come off. “Sweetest girl ever.”

“Oh, how old is she?” Kyungsoo asks, taking the pan from Baekhyun and attempting to get the spot off himself.

“Three - wow, you got it!” Baekhyun says with a grin. He takes the pan from Kyungsoo with a grin and washes the soap suds off. “Nice.”

Kyungsoo shrugs his shoulders, very familiar with washing the dishes. It was always him doing the cleaning at home because Chanyeol and Taehyung never liked washing the dishes.

“Alright,” Baekhyun says with a satisfied sigh as he puts the last dish away. “Let’s go upstairs and do the laundry. We need to get you better clothes.’

Kyungsoo follows Baekhyun back up the stairs, but this time there’s a woman sitting on the couch in the living room. Her swollen belly is being poked at by a little girl and Baekbeom is saying something to her with a smile. When she turns, hearing Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, he’s struck by how beautiful she isl.

“Hello, who might this be?” she asks looking at Kyungsoo.

“Kyungsoo, he’s a new hire,” Baekhyun explains as he walks over to pick up the little girl. “Why are you up so early, noona?”

“The baby started kicking and I couldn’t fall back asleep.” Turning to Kyungsoo she gives a bright smile and Kyungsoo tries not to be blinded the sheer number of smiles this family has to offer.

“Nice to meet you, Kyungsoo. I’m Sohyun,” she says giving a little wave before groaning in pain. “Ah, I’m sorry. You caught me at a bad time.”

“No, it’s nice to meet you as well,” says Kyungsoo.

Baekbeom rubs his wife’s tummy and the little girl in Baekhyun’s arms whispers into his hair, “Samcheon, who is that?”

Baekhyun gestures for Kyungsoo to come closer as he turns to face his niece so that their noses are touching. “This is Kyungsoo-ssi. You can call him Kyungsoo-oppa.”

The little girl looks up shyly through long lashes and waves her small, pudgy hand. “Hello, Kyungsoo-oppa.”

Kyungsoo smiles and waves back. “Hello, what’s your name?”

“Sojin,” Baekhyun answers.

Kyungsoo may work at an old person’s home, but he’s pretty good with kids.

“Sojin-ah, I like your hair clip,” Kyungsoo says, pointing to a clip with a pink butterfly attached to it.

Her little face breaks out into a big grin and Kyungsoo can see the resemblance between Baekhyun when they’re side by side.

“Samcheon has to go help Kyungsoo-oppa find something better to wear, okay?” Baekhyun asks as he sets her down on the couch next to Sohyun.

She nods and gives clambers over to her mother’s stomach, attention already on her parents. “Can I feel, Mommy?”

Baekhyun takes Kyungsoo by the wrist and leads him to the attic again. Once he pulls the ladder down, Baekhyun turns around.

“Fair warning, my laundry is my laundry, so don’t be surprised.” Baekhyun turns back around and climbs up the ladder, leaving Kyungsoo a little wary of what clothes Baekhyun could have that require a warning.

When Kyungsoo reaches the top, he pulls the ladder back up and shuts the trapdoor. Baekhyun is already pulling a laundry basket out of his bedroom and into the sitting room. He dumps all the clothes onto a couch that sinks down with age and sets the basket down next to it. Kyungsoo walks over, seeing an assortment of the same neutral colors: black, brown, grey, and white.

Sitting on the edge of a couch, Kyungsoo grabs a shirt and begins to fold. Baekhyun sits on the other end and pulls a pair of pants out.

“We’re going to have to find you something a little smaller,” says Baekhyun as he looks at Kyungsoo’s legs. “Definitely smaller.”

Kyungsoo just laugh a little and continues folding the clothes. As the two work in silence Baekhyun begins humming under his breath again.

“Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun says to himself quietly.

“Yes?” Kyungsoo says, feeling deja vu.

“Hm? Oh,” Baekhyun laughs. “Sorry, I just feel like I’ve heard it somewhere.”

Kyungsoo looks at him for a second with a blank expression before going back to the pair of socks he finally found. A few moments later, Baekhyun holds up a pair of brown pants.

“Try this,” he says as he tosses them to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo gets up to go to the bathroom, but Baekhyun stops him.

“You can just take the pants off here. I won’t look if that makes you uncomfortable,” Baekhyun says holding up a sweater and putting it over his head jokingly before it slides off, messing up his hair. “It’s just a hassle to go to another room to change.”

Kyungsoo looks back at him with wide eyes, and Baekhyun shakes his head. “Never mind, go change.” He points in the direction of the bedroom.

Walking quickly, Kyungsoo goes to his borrowed bedroom and sheds the billowy blue pants off before putting on the brown ones. When he finishes buttoning it up, Kyungsoo looks down. It definitely fits better. The pants are more like skinny jeans compared to before.

Kyungsoo opens the door and comes out to Baekhyun who’s still folding clothes. Baekhyun looks up expectantly and grins when he sees Kyungsoo.

“Much better. Now just tuck in your shirt and you should be good.” Baekhyun gets up as if he’s about to do it for Kyungsoo, but Kyungsoo quickly tucks it in himself. Instead of sitting back down, Baekhyun still comes forward to adjust the collar and check the back. Taking a step back, he looks Kyungsoo up and down with an approving look in his eye. “I’m sure we’ll get some more customers if you’re standing at the door.”

Kyungsoo looks down at himself as if to see what Baekhyun is talking about.

“We just need to do something about your hair. This is a barber’s shop after all.” Baekhyun holds up a finger. “Wait, I have an idea.”

Kyungsoo sits back down on the couch and finishes folding the last few pieces of clothing, still not coming across any weird clothes. Baekhyun comes back in with a bottle of gel. He steps in front of Kyungsoo before bending down so that they’re face to face.

“I’m just going to gel some of your hair back so that it doesn’t get in your face,” says Baekhyun as he uncaps the bottle and squirts some onto his fingers. He rubs them between the palms of his hands before reaching to bury his fingers in Kyungsoo’s hair.

Kyungsoo doesn’t move as he feels tingling in his scalp. Looking at Baekhyun this close he notices a mole right above his lip and sees the slight dark circles underneath Baekhyun’s eyes.

“You came home early yesterday, right?” Kyungsoo says trying to keep his voice down because they’re so close.

“Yes, I did,” Baekhyun says with a slight quirk of his lips. “Why?”

“You have dark circles,” Kyungsoo says, resisting the urge to run a finger underneath one of his eyes.

“Do I?” Baekhyun laughs a little self-consciously as he works his fingers through Kyungsoo’s hair. “I got home early yesterday, but I’ve been staying in late this whole week because our deadline was coming up. The deadline was noon yesterday, so everyone got home at a normal time.”

Kyungsoo nods before Baekhyun gently tugs his hair to keep him still. Running his fingers through Kyungsoo’s hair one more time, Baekhyun lets go and surveys his work. He nods, pleased with what he sees.

“Go to the bathroom to take a look.”

Kyungsoo listens and gets up. In the bathroom, he sees that his hair has been pushed away from his face so that it falls to the sides.

“Ha, I could be a hairstylist,” Baekhyun says cockily.

“Don’t quit your day job,” Kyungsoo quips back unintentionally.

Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo in surprise and bursts out laughing. “Okay, I’ll take your advice, but is it good?”

“Yes, it is. Thanks,” Kyungsoo says, turning to face Baekhyun. “Should I go down now to help your brother out?”

“Yeah,” says Baekhyun as he steps out into the hallway. “You look much better now. And thanks for helping with my laundry.”

“Of course,” Kyungsoo says as he goes to the trapdoor. Halfway down he sees that Baekhyun isn’t coming.

“I have to get changed into something more suitable for work,” Baekhyun says pulling at the material of his translucent button up. “I’ll meet you down there in a few minutes.”

“Okay.” Kyungsoo climbs down the ladder and then down the stairs, greeting Sohyun and Sojin on the way down.

Baekbeom is downstairs putting things in order when Kyungsoo comes down.

“What should I do?” Kyungsoo asks as he watches Baekbeom scurry around.

“Kyungsoo, just in time. Can you wipe down all the tables for me and then make sure all of them have a smock and towel hanging next to it?”

“Yes,” Kyungsoo says, grabbing a rag from behind the cash register, which is right in front of a sink.

He goes wiping down every table as he checks them to make sure there are smocks and towels hanging next to them. Baekhyun comes down while Kyungsoo is halfway through, dressed in suspenders and holding a tweed jacket over his left arm. His right is holding the large bulky suitcase from yesterday.

Baekhyun sets it down on the cash register counter and unlatches it. In it, there’s a typewriter and he checks to make sure all his keys are there.

“Working hard, Kyungsoo-ssi,” Baekhyun says with a laugh after relatching his briefcase.

“Of course. I have to earn my keep, don’t I?” Kyungsoo says over his shoulder as he wipes down another table.

“Very true,” Baekhyun replies, walking towards the door. He leaves with the tip of his hat and waves goodbye to Baekbeom and Kyungsoo through the window.

“Do you know anything about cutting hair?” Baekbeom asks once Baekhyun is out of sight.

“Not really, but I do know how to shave…” Kyungsoo trails off. He remembers yesterday, Baekbeom had been using a knife to shave people, not a razor. “I’m good at cleaning and organizing.”

“Okay, I’ll teach you where everything goes and you can help me ring people up.” Baekbeom gives Kyungsoo a comforting smile and Kyungsoo can’t help but smile back.

When Baekhyun gets back that night he sees Kyungsoo and Baekbeom chatting away like old friends as Kyungsoo sweeps the floor and Baekbeom cleans his scissors and shaving knives.

“Hey, looks like things are running smoothly here,” Baekhyun says as he walks behind the counter and sits down on the stool.

Baekbeom claps Kyungsoo on the back when he walks by the sink.

“Kyungsoo is really good at managing the store. Even when there are twenty people asking to buy soap and shampoo, he’s still so levelheaded.” Baekbeom sounds ecstatic about his new help.

“Glad to hear it,” says Baekhyun. He’s smiling, but he looks a little tired. “Did Taeyeon come in today?”

Baekbeom shakes his head, seemingly unaware of Baekhyun’s change in tone, but Kyungsoo can tell feel a sudden tension between the two brothers.

“Okay, I’m going to go help noona with dinner,” Baekhyun says, loosening his tie and running a hand through his hair.

Baekbeom gives another cheery nod, but once Baekhyun leaves, he sags against the sink a little. Kyungsoo continues sweeping the floor of hair and pretends not to see Baekbeom, but Baekbeom speaks up.

“Taeyeon and Baekhyun are engaged, or they’re going to be. You’re probably going to see her a lot around here.” Baekbeom looks up and grimaces. “But Baekhyun’s avoiding her, so if she ever asks where he is, just say you don’t know. Unless he’s at the paper, she usually won’t go there to bother him.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo says caught by surprise. He never would have known that they were engaged from the way Baekhyun acted around her. “She brought me there the other day though.”

“Because it was the end of the deadline. She knew he wouldn’t have too much to do.” Baekbeom sighs and puts his tools away. “Just be ready for her to come in every few days.”

Kyungsoo nods and gathers all the hair into the wastebasket. “Okay, I’m going to throw this out then.”

“Yeah, back there,” says Baekbeom with a grateful smile.

Kyungsoo walks to the back where the dumpster is and sees the cat from earlier in the morning licking its paw on top of a pile of old clothes.

“Hey there,” Kyungsoo says. He doesn’t reach out for fear of the cat’s claws, but he smiles and gives the cat some space. “How’s it going?”

The cat doesn’t answer, just blinks back with it’s round, shining eyes. Kyungsoo gives the cat a bow jokingly and is surprised to see the cat tilt its head in return. Giving the cat one last glance, Kyungsoo walks back into the shop and shakes his head in amusement. He did time travel after all. What’s a cat that can understand Korean?

When he goes in, Baekbeom has left, turning off all the lights. He can hear the sounds of oil crackling and laughter upstairs so he makes his way up. But a few steps up the stairs, Kyungsoo doubles over in pain, hearing a ringing in his head. For a second, he can see his own family sitting around the dinner table, and then he’s standing back on the street where he first started off yesterday. Before Kyungsoo can see anything else, Baekhyun’s voice shakes him out of his trance.

“Kyungsoo-ssi, are you still sweeping the floor? It’s not like we’re going to eat off it, come on up.” Baekhyun opens the door to the second floor wider and sees Kyungsoo standing there swaying.

Baekhyun runs down the stairs with a pink bow in his hair and lipstick drawn all over his face as he checks to see if Kyungsoo is okay.

“Kyungsoo-ssi, are you alright?”

Kyungsoo looks up and lets out a yelp when he sees Baekhyun’s face. Baekhyun has to reach out an arm to steady him so that Kyungsoo doesn’t fall down the few steps he has walked up.

“Your face,” Kyungsoo manages to get out, and Baekhyun visibly sighs in relief before giving Kyungsoo a ridiculous smile.

“I know, I look great, don’t I? Sojin’s running a beauty parlor upstairs.” Leaning in like he’s telling a secret, Baekhyun whispers, “I think you’re our next customer.”

Kyungsoo laughs, headache disappearing just as quick as it came. “As long as she does better on me than she did on you.”

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo begin walking up the stairs as Baekhyun frowns. “What are you talking about? This is some of her best work!”

When they make it up, Baekbeom is feeding his wife as she sits on the couch. Sojin is sitting at the table with some of her mom’s old makeup. The toys on the ground are as numerous as they were in the morning.

“Oppa!” Sojin calls out to Kyungsoo. “I need to do your makeup.” She holds up a small mirror with a crack down the middle. “I did samcheon’s already.”

Baekhyun nods as he sets the dishes out onto the table. “Yes, she did. I’ve never felt prettier.”

Sojin beams and Baekhyun beams back ruffling her hair.

Patting the seat next to her, Kyungsoo sits down and faces her.

“Hm,” she says as she looks at Kyungsoo’s face. “What color would be good?”

Baekhyun sets a bowl of rice down in front of Kyungsoo and sits on the other side of Sojin with a mischievous smile. “Blue.”

Before Kyungsoo can protest, Sojin’s face lights up and Kyungsoo can’t find it in him to say no.

“But,” Baekhyun continues. “We need to let Kyungsoo-ssi finish eating first. Then you can do his makeup.”

Sojin makes a disappointed noise, but nods and begins checking over her makeup palette for all the colors.

“Why are there so many toys on the ground?” Kyungsoo asks as he eats.

“Ah, that’s our parents,” Baekhyun says with a little laugh. “They sent this much when Sohyun noona was pregnant with Sojin too. When they found out she was having another baby, they went all out. We ended up giving half of them away last time.”

Baekhyun bends down to pick up a toy block. “Yeah, we can’t keep all of these in the house.”

Sojin whimpers sadly as she takes the block from Baekhyun. The size difference in their hands makes it that much cuter.

“But I want to keep all of them,” Sojin says and she whimpers again, holding the block like a wounded animal. Baekhyun lets out a laugh and pets her hair.

“These are for your little brother or sister, not you. But your dad and mom said you could keep three toys to yourself.”

Sojin’s smile is back on her face as she looks at Baekhyun excitedly. “Really?”

“Really,” Baekhyun says holding up his pinky finger. Kyungsoo watches the scene with a twinge in his chest. When had he last given anyone a hug?

“Sojin, it’s almost seven. You need to finish your homework,” Baekbeom calls out from the couch.

“Aw, but I haven’t done Kyungsoo-oppa’s make up yet!” Sojin insists, but she’s already getting up to grab her backpack.

“You can do that tomorrow night when you don’t have school the next day,” Sohyun says sternly. Baekbeom laughs when Sojin begins making whimpering noises like a puppy.

“Your mother is right. Go get your homework.”

Baekhyun laughs and waits for Kyungsoo to finish his food. Kyungsoo can’t help but look at the lipstick patterns drawn all over Baekhyun’s face.

“Are you going to keep that on?” asks Kyungsoo as he finishes his food.

“Of course!” Baekhyun says loud enough for Sojin to hear, but he whispers, “I’m taking it off when we get upstairs.”

“But she still has to do me,” says Kyungsoo through a mouthful of food.

“Well then I’ll hide,” Baekhyun says impatiently tapping his fingers as he waits for Kyungsoo to finish eating.

Kyungsoo takes notice of this and quickly eats everything else, rising out of his chair as he does.

“We’re going upstairs. I’m going to show Kyungsoo around,” Baekhyun says as he pushes Kyungsoo towards the trapdoor.

“Okay,” says Baekbeom, offhandedly. He’s too busy looking at his wife to pay attention and Baekhyun just shakes his head, following Kyungsoo down the hall to the ladder.

Once they reach the top Baekhyun goes over to his large briefcase and opens it.

“Sorry, I have to make sure I don’t forget to pin these up,” Baekhyun says, grabbing a few papers and tacking them onto a bulletin board right over the small desk in the corner. With the world map and the papers right above his messy desk, Baekhyun fits right in, standing and looking at the board for a brief second, then crossing his arms and biting down on the end of a pen. “Hm, Kyungsoo-ssi, how old are you?” Baekhyun asks suddenly.

“Twenty-four,” Kyungsoo answers. There’s no point in lying about his age.

“What year?”

Kyungsoo begins to say 1993, but he stops himself. “Secret.”

Baekhyun makes a weird face as he looks at Kyungsoo. “Okay…month?”

“January.”

“Ha, I’m older than you,” Baekhyun says with a smirk. He takes a second to think before he continues. “You were born in 1933 then. See? That wasn’t so hard.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes bug out a little at the number, but he nods. “I forgot.”

“You forgot…?” Baekhyun waits for him to elaborate, but Kyungsoo doesn’t say anything else opting to look at the bulletin behind Baekhyun.

“Okay,” Baekhyun says awkwardly, and Kyungsoo is blushing as he continues to be engrossed in the world map and papers. “Anyway, this is my section of the house. No else comes up here because it’s usually a mess.” Baekhyun laughs scratches the back of his head as he looks at the papers strewn all over the place.

“Um, kitchen,” he gestures towards the right of his desk. “Living room.” He gestures behind Kyungsoo to the sofa where the laundry is still sitting.

Pushing off of his desk, Baekhyun walks to the hallway. “Bathroom is down the hall, which you know already.”

He raps on the door to their right. “Your room.” Raps on the door to the left. “My room.”

Baekhyun cocks his head to the side as he looks at Kyungsoo’s door. “You need new sheets right?”

“No, it’s fine. I cleaned them already,” says Kyungsoo.

“Beating the dust off of them isn’t cleaning them,” Baekhyun says tutting and he opens the door.

He and Kyungsoo take the sheets and bring them down to the kitchen on the first floor where a washing machine is hidden to the side.

“We aren’t allowed to use these for anything but sheets,” says Baekhyun as he and Kyungsoo begin shoving the sheets and blankets in. “We have to air dry them here when we’re done.”

Kyungsoo nods in acknowledgment. They can’t shove any more than one blanket in at a time, so Kyungsoo steps back and lets Baekhyun start the machine.

They go back to the second floor and Baekhyun grabs fresh sheets and blankets from a closet in the hallway.

“Hyung, I’m getting Kyungsoo-ssi some fresh blankets,” Baekhyun says as they walk past the living room to get to the ladder.

“Alright,” Baekbeom says as he looks up from Sojin’s homework.

When they finally get upstairs, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo set the sheets down on the bed.

“I can do this part myself,” Kyungsoo says when Baekhyun goes to put the sheets on.

“Are you sure?” asks Baekhyun, but he doesn’t seem too opposed to it.

“Yes, thank you,” Kyungsoo answers with a firm nod.

“Alright, well let me know if you need anything. I’ll be at my desk.” Baekhyun jabs a thumb in the direction of the living room/kitchen/office.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo says as he begins tucking the sheets into the bed. But before Baekhyun leaves, Kyungsoo abruptly turns around. “Um, thank you, Baekhyun-ssi.”

Baekhyun gives Kyungsoo a grin over his shoulder. “Of course. Just don’t steal anything, Kyungsoo-ssi.”

“Just Kyungsoo is fine.”

Baekhyun looks at him with pleased surprise. “Then just Baekhyun is fine.”

They say good night and Baekhyun returns to his desk. Kyungsoo finishes getting the sheets and blankets on, frowning a little at floral pattern, before sitting down and tugging at the sleeves of his button up.

Baekhyun’s arms are slightly longer than his and Kyungsoo stares at the sleeves as they roll down his arm until they go to the ends of his thumbs. Kyungsoo flops down on the bed and stares at the ceiling. Thinking of his roommates Chanyeol and Taehyung, Kyungsoo begins to feel home sick. Baekhyun and Baekbeom are kind and far better than what Kyungsoo could have imagined, but two days in and Kyungsoo isn’t sure what’s going on.

He keeps reaching for his phone in his back pocket and forgetting that, one, it doesn’t work here, and two, the pants he’s wearing doesn’t have pockets. There’s also a strange silence in 1957. In 2017 Kyungsoo could always hear the telltale hum of phones and computers, the machinery always giving off a quiet, almost silent, buzz. Here there are only the chirping of birds and insects that come out when it gets cooler and the chatter of people. 

Kyungsoo closes his eyes. Maybe it’s better here. He doesn’t have to worry about his family, his job, night school. Working with Baekbeom in the shop was far more relaxing than Kyungsoo would have ever imagined. There isn’t too much back home to live for anyway.

Kyungsoo eventually falls asleep facing the ceiling thinking of his friends and the familiar places he doesn’t see anymore.

~

The next month passes by uneventfully. Other than getting used to no air conditioning and the complete lack of electronics, Kyungsoo finds himself adjusting to life pretty well. Maybe it was because he was already too far behind in the modern world, opting for books and staying home alone rather than clubs and video games. There aren’t too many things he misses other than some nostalgia when he hears a laugh that sounds similar to Chanyeol’s or a familiar dish that reminds him of home.

He adjusts well into Baekhyun’s family, although he has a feeling it’s because of them, not him, and Baekhyun becomes familiar with Kyungsoo quickly. He usually works late nights and on the weekends he goes around hunting for more information for his stories.

On Friday of the fourth week, Taeyeon comes by the shop again.

“Taeyeon,” Baekbeom says with a smile and a hug.

“Oppa,” Taeyeon greets back looking as beautiful as ever. She turns to see Kyungsoo wiping off one of the tables and greets him as well. “How are you doing, Kyungsoo-ssi?”

“Very good, thank you,” Kyungsoo says when he notices two little girls whispering to one another about Taeyeon

One of the little girls is waiting for her mother to finish getting her hair done and to her friend. “ _That’s_ Kim Taeyeon.”

The other little girl whispers back, “Oh, the one Baekhyun oppa is going to marry?”

They aren’t very good at keeping quiet and Taeyeon laughs hearing them.

“Yes,” Taeyeon says, giving them a bright smile. “The one Baekhyun oppa is going to marry.”

The little girls quiet down immediately before the braver one says, “What if he doesn’t want to marry you?”

Taeyeon’s smile falters for a second before coming back full force. No one but Baekbeom and Kyungsoo notice.

“Then I wouldn’t be getting married to him, now would I?” says Taeyeon kindly.

Kyungsoo watches the exchange in interest as Taeyeon charms the little girls and their mothers.

“Do you know where Baekhyun is?”

“Probably the paper,” Baekbeom replies back. Kyungsoo knows for a fact that isn’t true. He had announced loudly and very proudly this morning that he was going to go interview a government official about some complicated political matter and wouldn’t shut up about it until he left.

“Alright, thank you.” Taeyeon bows her head and goes to leave. The smile on her face is still there but it looks much more forced now.

When she leaves the shop Baekbeom shakes his head disappointedly. “I thought Baekhyun would’ve resolved this by now. It’s been almost half a year.”

“Resolved what?” Kyungsoo asks quietly enough so that the ahjummas don’t hear him.

Baekbeom gives another shake of his head. “I’ll tell you if I have time later.”

When later comes, they both forget. Kyungsoo ends up staring at the ceiling again as he waits for the sound of Baekhyun climbing up the ladder and setting down his typewriter with a thud. At around eleven thirty, after waiting for almost two hours, Baekhyun comes in with an audible sigh and Kyungsoo leaps up.

“Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says tentatively as he walks into the main room, where Baekhyun is sitting at his desk. His head is buried in his folded arms as he sits at his desk.

A groan of acknowledgment comes from Baekhyun as he continues sitting there.

“Did you eat yet?”

“Hm?” Baekhyun looks up at the mention of food, and that’s when Kyungsoo notices his dark circles and exhausted shadows across his face. Or it could just be the crappy lighting by his desk.

“Because Baekbeom let me bring some food up, just in case.” Kyungsoo looks at Baekhyun waiting for him to give a response.

A slow grin takes over Baekhyun’s face and he shakes his head. “No, I didn’t eat yet.”

Kyungsoo immediately goes to open the fridge and begins heating the leftover soup and dishes.

Baekhyun walks over to watch Kyungsoo cook as he leans against the countertop their shoulders just brushing each other’s.

“But you know,” Baekhyun says with a teasing lilt in his voice. “My brother never checks if I eat.”

Kyungsoo silently stirs the pot and doesn’t say anything.

“Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun says drawing out the end of his name. Kyungsoo can practically see Baekhyun’s smirk as he continues to stare at the pot of soup. “Did you wait up to cook for me?”

“No, I just couldn’t sleep,” Kyungsoo answers, biting the inside of his cheek. And he felt indebted. And he used to do this every night anyway. And he didn’t sleep at all these days. This was the very least he could do. “And when you came in I remembered that I had leftovers in the fridge.”

Baekhyun’s still smirking, clearly not buying Kyungsoo’s story. “Well tell my brother I said thanks.”

Baekhyun leans in to smell the pot and Kyungsoo catches a whiff of Baekhyun’s scent that he’s gotten so used to.

“Lavender?” Kyungsoo asks as Baekhyun licks his lips staring at the pot.

“Lavender,” Baekhyun says in affirmation still watching the soup.

“Why lavender?” Kyungsoo continues stirring the pot as Baekhyun moves a little closer to Kyungsoo.

“It’s a long, kind of boring story,” Baekhyun says, finally looking up to stare at Kyungsoo instead.

“Well, neither of us are going to fall asleep very soon.” Kyungsoo looks up to meet Baekhyun’s gaze. “Tell your story.”

They look at each other, neither one making a move to look away, when Kyungsoo gets an odd feeling in his chest. He blames it on the heat from the stove and looks away. Baekhyun’s cocky grin is no longer on his face, replaced with something much more conflicted.

Quickly wiping his expression off his face, Baekhyun smiles and takes the wooden spoon from Kyungsoo.

“If you want to hear the story, set the table for me. I’ll tell you once we’re sitting down to eat.”

Kyungsoo obliges rather easily, moving away from Baekhyun to grab plates from the cupboard to their right. He grabs the other dishes and brings them to the table as Baekhyun grabs a cloth to put underneath the boiling pot.

Once they get everything set up, the two of them sit next to each other. Baekhyun begins eating as Kyungsoo sits forward watching.

“Why’d you get back so late today?” Kyungsoo asks when Baekhyun’s mouth isn’t full of food.

“The official I interviewed was a conniving asshole,” Baekhyun says plainly. “He didn’t answer any of my questions and he made me late for the last bus. I had to catch a taxi and then walk the rest of the way home.”

“Why didn’t you just call home?” Kyungsoo asks, angry for Baekhyun.

Baekhyun gives a little grin at Kyungsoo’s anger. “How? I didn’t have any money for a phone booth.”

“What about your cellph-” Kyungsoo cuts off when he realizes what he’s saying.

“Self?” Baekhyun repeats in confusion.

“Yourself,” Kyungsoo corrects quickly. “Why didn’t you think of yourself and leave a few coins to call your brother?”

Baekhyun slurps up a piece of tofu and gives Kyungsoo a sheepish look. “I forgot.”

“Next time, remember,” says Kyungsoo. “I could even pick you up if you needed it. That typewriter is heavy enough as it is. No need for you to lug it all the way home by yourself.”

Baekhyun gives another grin and nods. “Okay, I’ll be counting on you, Kyungsoo.”

Kyungsoo returns the grin with his own soft smile and Baekhyun chokes on his food.

“Are you okay?” says Kyungsoo in alarm as he pats him on the back.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun gulps down some soup and gives him a thumbs up. After a minute or so of recovering, Baekhyun speaks up again. “Do you want to hear my story?”

Kyungsoo nods. “Yes.”

“Alright. It starts in the summer,” Baekhyun begins. “When I was younger, my entire family would go to the countryside to visit my grandparents and cousins. My mom was the only one in her family who moved to the city. My dad had been traveling one year and he met my mother. Fell in love with her.” Baekhyun pauses and smiles down at his bowl, but there’s also something bitter in his voice. “It worked out really well and they got married a few months after that. Thirty years of marriage and still going strong.”

Kyungsoo tilts his head to see what Baekhyun’s expression is, but Baekhyun’s head jerks up and he’s wearing a smile again, although it looks a little more fragile. “Sorry, got sidetracked. Anyway, every year we would go visit and my grandparents had a large piece of forest on their property. It was big enough that getting to the center took about two hours walking. Off on the side of the forest there’s a huge field of lavenders.” The smile on his face morphs into something more genuine and reflective. “I was the only one brave, or stupid, enough to walk around that forest until I found it. It was beautiful, truly. The whole field was spread out in front of me, and when I told my grandma about it she told me to keep it a secret.”

A small smile has made its way onto Kyungsoo’s face as he sees the happiness on Baekhyun’s tired face. Although they haven’t known each other for too long, the two of them got along much better than Kyungsoo would have expected. Baekhyun is often loud and obnoxious when he’s around his niece, but whenever it’s just them, he’s quiet and inquisitive, although sometimes he can still be childish. At first, it reminded Kyungsoo of Chanyeol, but within the first few days Baekhyun made it very clear that he was a completely different person.

“Every year, I would pick a few and my grandma would help me preserve them. Before she died, she spent the last few months here because there are better doctors in the city, and we lived closest to it. I got really attached to the smell, so I keep dried lavender everywhere up here.” Baekhyun sighs a little and sets his spoon down with a small clang. “That’s it. That’s why I like lavenders so much.”

When Kyungsoo doesn’t respond, Baekhyun laughs a little. “I told you it’s a boring a story.”

“No.” Kyungsoo’s quiet voice makes Baekhyun looks up. “It isn’t.”

“Don’t look so sad,” Baekhyun says in surprise as he sees Kyungsoo’s eyes shining. “It wasn’t supposed to be that sad.”

Kyungsoo shakes his head. “I’m not sad.”

Baekhyun gives an understanding smile at that. “Okay. I’m done eating. Want to help me clean up?”

As they wash the dishes, Kyungsoo thinks back to Taeyeon’s appearance today.

“Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo starts.

Baekhyun looks up from his soapy hands. “Yes?”

Kyungsoo pauses looking at the window in front of the sink. It seemed like a touchy subject. “Never mind.”

Baekhyun scoffs a little. “Okay, good talk.”

Kyungsoo glares a little at Baekhyun and flicks some water in his face on _accident_.

“Hey!” Baekhyun looks up blinking furiously as his eyes recover. He flicks some soap suds into Kyungsoo’s face.

“That was an accident. Why would you do that?” Kyungsoo says in fake offence.

“That was an accident too!” Baekhyun protests, but the grin on his face says different.

They end up laughing and finishing the dishes with smiles on their faces.

As Kyungsoo goes back to his room, he finds that it’s been awhile since he could laugh like that. Here, with no obligations and someone as bright as Baekhyun, it’s easier to smile and live life like he wants to. Kyungsoo immediately shoves those thoughts to the back of his mind feeling terrible and selfish.

“I’ll find a way to get back,” Kyungsoo says to himself, but he finds that he doesn’t believe himself.

~

Three more months pass and everyone at the store is now familiar with him. The customers love him for his quiet, but sweet personality, and on the weekends, they live for the banter between Baekhyun and him. Taeyeon has been visiting more often and Baekhyun doesn’t push her away or hide every time she does. All in all, things are going very well.

Sometimes a coworker from the paper will come and mess around with Baekhyun. Jongdae has become particularly interested in breaking Kyungsoo’s calm demeanor and visits more often than not. Sometimes Junmyeon, the uptight man he met on his first day, will be dragged along as well, and Kyungsoo finds himself smiling more and more. Relaxing so much more, even though his hours are much longer.

But the insomnia gets worse. Every time he laughs or enjoys doing something, he gets a pang in his chest that reminds him of everything he’s missing. Taehyung and Chanyeol. His family. His job. HIs coworkers. Even the harabeojis and halmonis at the old person’s home.

_You don’t belong here._

He can hear it in his head all the time. When he closes his eyes to sleep, when he’s making conversation with an ahjumma, and most often when he sees Baekhyun in a different light.

After their talk that one night, Baekhyun has been more forthcoming and even more friendly with Kyungsoo, but lingering stares and touches have also become a common occurrence that Kyungsoo has to stop himself from thinking too much about. Baekhyun is a naturally touchy person and eye contact is a given when you talk to a friend, but Kyungsoo still feels like something has shifted in their relationship.

When he gets thoughts like these, Kyungsoo pushes them away as fast as he can. He doesn’t even think Baekhyun likes men, and there’s Taeyeon. She and Baekhyun finally seem to be getting along and he doesn’t want to be the reason their fragile relationship falls apart again.

So with all that forcefully shoved to the back of his mind, Kyungsoo finds an odd blend of happiness and guilt that give way to exhaustion and despair.

At first, he covers it up well. Catching power naps is nothing new, especially while he was juggling volunteering, jobs, and school back in 2017. But eventually it gets too much when Baekbeom catches him nodding off during a slow hour.

“Kyungsoo,” Baekbeom says, and Kyungsoo jerks awake at the disapproval in his voice.

“I’m sorry,” says Kyungsoo, getting up immediately.

“You’ve been looking exhausted these past few days. We’ve had a lot of people come in the morning, we’ve reached our daily quota. Go get some sleep.”

When Kyungsoo tries to protest, Baekbeom holds up a hand. “Go sleep. Now.”

Kyungsoo can’t disagree, so he goes to the storage room to reach the stairs. Before he makes it halfway up he hears a gasp and then a quiet moan of pain.

Kyungsoo dashes up the rest of the stairs and sees Sohyun holding onto the side of the table in pain. There’s a puddle of water underneath her and Kyungsoo realizes what’s happening.

“Noona, I’m going to get Baekbeom hyung, okay?” She gives a groan of affirmation and Kyungsoo runs back down shouting, “I’ll be right back!”

Baekbeom glares at Kyungsoo when he comes back down. “I told you-”

“Sohyun noona!” This shuts Baekbeom up immediately. “Her water broke!”

Baekbeom runs faster than the speed of lightning as Kyungsoo follows at his heels.

“Sohyun,” Baekbeom says, a little out of breath, as he stares at the scene in front of him. He repeats, “Sohyun.”

“That’s my name,” she hisses out. “Get me to the hospital, you idiot.” She groans in pain again as Baekbeom nods panicked.

“Right, of course.” He immediately gets up to dial the phone and Kyungsoo kneels next to Sohyun.

“He was this dumb the first time,” Sohyun laughs out, before hissing in pain again. “I thought he would be a little better this time.”

Kyungsoo nods and lets Sohyun grip his hand.

“Well, this is kind of scary,” Kyungsoo says trying to make conversation.

“Not as scary as it is for me,” Sohyun responds as Baekbeom rushes back to her side.

“I called a taxi.”

Sohyun looks up in shock. “A taxi? What about a carriage? We only have about five taxis in this town.”

“They agreed the minute I said I needed to go to the hospital.” Sohyun is now holding Baekbeom’s hand instead of Kyungsoo’s.

Turning to Kyungsoo, Baekbeom says, “Kyungsoo, I need you to close the shop and keep watch over it,” completely forgetting about his earlier order to sleep. “Tell Baekhyun for me, will you?”

“Of course,” Kyungsoo answers.

Baekbeom gives him a shaky smile and helps Sohyun down the stairs carefully. The two of them get into a taxi with Baekbeom looking much more panicked than Sohyun. Kyungsoo closes up the shop, which is essentially putting up the “We are CLOSED” sign, like Baekbeom asked and then jogs to the paper.

“Hello, I’m here for Byun Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says to the receptionist, breathing heavily.

The man lets him in and Kyungsoo makes his way to Baekhyun’s office. When he arrives, he doubles over taking a deep breath.

“Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun asks in surprise as he hurries over to check if he’s okay.

“Sohyun noona is-” Kyungsoo takes another few breaths. “-her water broke.”

Everyone in the room gasps and there are a few “Congratulations!”.

“Wow,” Baekhyun says, but he doesn’t look too surprised as he leads Kyungsoo to sit in his chair. “That’s great.”

“Aren’t you going to go to the hospital?” Kyungsoo asks between breaths.

“No, she told me beforehand that I couldn’t go,” Baekhyun says as he hands Kyungsoo a cup of water.

Jongdae speaks up. “What? And you’re actually listening?”

There’s a few laughs around the room at that, and Baekhyun throws a pencil at Jongdae.

“Haven’t you seen her when she’s angry?”

Junmyeon squeaks a little when Baekhyun says that.

“Right?” Baekhyun says, turning to Junmyeon. “Isn’t she terrifying?”

Junmyeon nods and Jongdae snorts. “But Junmyeon isn’t the best judge of whether something is scary or not. He was afraid of a girl he went out with because she grabbed his hand too much.”

There’s a chorus of agreements and Junmyeon shoots Jongdae a glare.

“What? It’s true,” Jongdae says in response.

“Whatever, all you need to know is that you don’t mess with her,” Baekhyun says as he rubs soothing circles on Kyungsoo’s back.

“You can take the next two days off anyway,” Junmyeon interrupts.

“Thanks, hyung,” Baekhyun says with a grin. “Kyungsoo, whenever you’re ready we can go back.”

Kyungsoo nods and stands up right away. “I’m good.”

Baekhyun laughs, grabbing a few papers and his typewriter.

“Alright, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” He turns to Jongdae. “Except for you. You better watch your back tonight.”

Jongdae sticks out his tongue and goes back to the article he was working on. Baekhyun takes Kyungsoo by the arm as they leave.

“Can you hold this for me?” Baekhyun asks as he hands Kyungsoo the papers he grabbed.

Kyungsoo takes them as they make their way out of the building. Baekhyun and the receptionist exchange goodbyes and then they’re on their way home.

“Why does your town have so few cars?” Kyungsoo asks as they walk, remembering Sohyun’s statement from earlier.

“Because we’re a small town. The wonders of modern day technology haven’t quite reached us yet.” Baekhyun swings the typewriter between them. “I think that most of our town doesn’t want it either. Driving is easier on paved roads and busy cities. We haven’t found the need for them yet.”

“That makes sense,” says Kyungsoo.

Baekhyun nudges the side of his leg with his typewriter. “Of course it does. I always make sense.” Kyungsoo gives him an unimpressed look and Baekhyun gives a cheeky grin. “What? Do you not agree?”

Kyungsoo just sighs and walks a little faster.

“Don’t pretend you don’t like me,” Baekhyun says, speeding up to keep up with Kyungsoo.

When they finally get back home, Baekhyun takes notice of the puddle still in the kitchen and Kyungsoo grimaces.

“We have to clean that up,” Kyungsoo says as he goes to grab a towel.

“Is that what I think it is?” Baekhyun says staring at the puddle in mild trepidation.

“Depends on what you think it is,” Kyungsoo says as he leaves to get a mop from the storage room.

“I’m going to put my typewriter upstairs, and my papers,” Baekhyun says as he follows Kyungsoo down to grab the papers. “And then I’m going to take a shower, so I don’t think I can help.”

He gives Kyungsoo a sheepish smile and dashes back upstairs after taking his papers.

Kyungsoo mops everything up and brings the mop back downstairs. Since Baekhyun said he was going to take a shower, Kyungsoo decides to tidy up everything else in the shop. Because of his rush to get Baekhyun he didn’t do a very good job and there are still a few things that need to be washed.

Fifteen minutes later, Kyungsoo finishes and goes back upstairs. When he gets to the top of the ladder, he sees Baekhyun walking out of the shower with a towel around his neck, a t-shirt, and boxers.

“All done?” Baekhyun asks as he grabs Kyungsoo’s hand, helping him up.

“All done,” Kyungsoo repeats.

“Sorry, I had to clean that last time, and she did it on the carpet, so I had to wash it by hand.” Baekhyun face twists in disgust. “It smelled really bad.”

Kyungsoo laughs at his expression and shakes his head. “It’s fine. Since it was on the wood I only had to use a mop.”

Baekhyun gives Kyungsoo a thankful smile and sits down at his desk. “We have to pick up Sojin at three thirty.”

“It’s around three right now,” Kyungsoo says looking at the clock above the sink window.

“Really?” Baekhyun looks up as well. “Do we need to buy groceries?”

“I need to check,” Kyungsoo says as he goes to open their fridge. “We have one head of cauliflower, some leftover kimchi and uncut pork.”

“We can make something out of that, right?” Baekhyun says getting up to look over Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

“Yeah, that should be fine. We also have some stuff in the second and first floor refrigerator.” Kyungsoo turns to face Baekhyun in confusion, saying, “Why do you guys have three fridges?” when he stops abruptly, realizing their proximity.

They’re close enough that Baekhyun’s wet hair drips water onto Kyungsoo’s eyelashes and nose. Baekhyun doesn’t move, on purpose or in surprise Kyungsoo’s not sure, and Kyungsoo is caged between the open fridge door and Baekhyun. He can feel the heat radiating off of him and Kyungsoo is starting to imagine things again. The way Baekhyun’s eyes keep flitting from his lips to meet his eyes. How he seems to be leaning in a little more so that their chests are almost touching.

“We should probably check the rest of the fridges before we go,” Baekhyun says, forgetting his question and moving away suddenly. Kyungsoo can’t tell whether his cheeks are pink from the shower or something else, but Baekhyun turns away before Kyungsoo can take a closer look. “And since it’s about fifteen minutes to walk to her school, let’s start now.”

His voice is softer, deeper, and he leaves with a “I’m going to change” leaving Kyungsoo a little shaken from the whole encounter.

_Stop imagining things._

Kyungsoo goes downstairs to check the fridges like Baekhyun said, but he takes a second to lean against one of them. It hasn’t even been half a year and Kyungsoo is already wishing for impossible things again.

Baekhyun has been doing things like that every once in awhile now. It’s random and it always ends like that. It’s almost as if he’s testing Kyungsoo, pushing a little further every time. It always gets awkward for a little while afterwards, and then Baekhyun will bounce back and become talkative and friendly with Kyungsoo again. This is the closest they’ve gotten and Kyungsoo can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if Baekhyun had pushed a little more. That is, if he’s pushing at all.

Kyungsoo opens the fridge and sets his head on the side, letting the cold seep the heat away from his blush. There are plenty of leftovers in here.

Kyungsoo goes to the back of the storage room and finds the third fridge. There’s bread and jam downstairs and Kyungsoo keeps that in mind as he goes to the front of the shop and sits behind the counter. The clock reads 3:07. Setting his head down on the counter, Kyungsoo waits for Baekhyun to come down.

A minute later, Baekhyun comes down wearing a t-shirt and some shorts.

“Let’s go,” Baekhyun says without looking at Kyungsoo.

They get to the school at three twenty-five and the two of them stand in silence as they wait for Sojin to come out.

While they stand there a young father walks past them and suddenly Baekhyun stiffens. Kyungsoo looks at him questioningly, but Baekhyun continues to stare straight at the school, although he looks unnerved.

A few minutes later, the kids come out and a little boy runs to the man. He holds the little boy’s hand and smiles as the kid rambles about something. Just as they walk to where Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are standing, the man looks up.

“Baekhyun,” he says in a shocked voice.

Baekhyun looks up, clearly on edge and gives a small smile. “Yixing.”

Kyungsoo and the little boy look between the two of them in confusion as Yixing shuffles a little like he wants to say something.

“Samcheon! Oppa!” Sojin comes running out of her school and Baekhyun tears his gaze away, plastering on a smile.

“Sojin!” He bends down and holds his arms out as she runs to hug him.

Yixing looks away uncomfortably, but his son runs over to Sojin with a cute grin.

“This is your samcheon, Sojin?”

Baekhyun looks between the two of them smiling. “Is this your friend?”

“Yeah, this is Minhyun!” Sojin says as she and Minhyun hold hands.

Baekhyun grins and pets him on the head. “Nice to meet you, Minhyun.”

Minhyun grins back and asks, “Do you know my dad, ahjussi?”

Baekhyun continues to smile, but it looks much more forced now. “Yeah, we’re friends.”

Yixing steps in and grabs his son’s hand. “Minhyun, it’s time to go.”

“Why? I want to play with Sojin,” Minhyun says, pouting at his dad. Yixing seems to be weak to his son’s smile because he looks up at Baekhyun and Kyungsoo helplessly.

“Only if Sojin’s samcheon says it’s okay,” says Yixing.

“Please?” Minhyun and Sojin say together and Kyungsoo stifles a laugh as he sees Baekhyun give a helpless nod to the two of them.

They run off to the playground at school and Kyungsoo wishes he could go with them. Baekhyun and Yixing both look like they want to say something, but neither of them speak up, making a;; parties uncomfortable.

“Hi, I’m Do Kyungsoo,” he says, trying to clear up some of the tension. He holds his hand out to Yixing.

“Hello, I’m Zhang Yixing,” Yixing says with a bow and shakes his hand in turn. Baekhyun bristles at that.

When Kyungsoo mouths the name trying to fit the syllables in his mouth, Yixing smiles sweetly and explains, “I immigrated from China, so I may mispronounce some things.”

Kyungsoo nods and smiles back. The lilt and the way he rounds some of syllables make more sense now. “How is Korea compared to China?” Kyungsoo asks, trying to continue the conversation. It’s much preferred over the tense silence they had earlier.

“It’s very nice. My son and his mother are Korean so it’s become like home to me.” Kyungsoo notices the way Yixing refers to the mother. Separated or divorced then.

Kyungsoo tries to give off an air of interest as he continues. “How long have you been in Korea?”

“About ten years. I met his mother my second year here and we had him.” Yixing looks over at his son fondly and Kyungsoo thinks that he gives off a very sincere air.

“Is he the same age as Sojin? She’s seven,” Kyungsoo asks, ignoring Baekhyun’s uncomfortable face.

“He just turned eight this spring,” Yixing says, but he seems uneasy again, noticing Baekhyun’s expression.

Kyungsoo wants to ask how they know each other, but he has a feeling that neither party will be willing to divulge that information, so he turns to the playground.

“Have you lived anywhere else in Korea?”

Yixing turns with him, probably glad to be looking in the opposite direction of Baekhyun’s face.

“Yes, I lived in Seoul up until a year ago.”

Baekhyun steps to the other side of Kyungsoo as far away from Yixing as possible before gently elbowing Kyungsoo. “We need to get groceries tonight.”

Yixing’s expression changes for some reason and he looks between Baekhyun and Kyungsoo in a sudden interest.

“Baekhyun, is th-”

“No, Yixing. It’s none of your business.”

Yixing flinches at Baekhyun’s harsh tone and Kyungsoo grabs him by the arm. “What was that for?” Turning to Yixing he apologizes, “I’m sorry about tha-”

Baekhyun cuts him off before he can finish his sentence. “There’s nothing here, okay?” Baekhyun practically growls out. He looks pissed off and tired and Kyungsoo thinks that they should leave now.

Gripping Baekhyun’s arm a little tighter, Kyungsoo gives Yixing an apologetic smile and bows, which Yixing returns, although he’s a bit shaken from Baekhyun’s words. “We’ll be going now.”

He calls out for Sojin and she comes running, albeit reluctantly.

After Kyungsoo checks to see that Sojin has her backpack and any other things she might’ve lost, they leave. Sojin holds one of Kyungsoo’s hands and his other one is still holding onto Baekhyun rather tightly.

When they get home, Kyungsoo tells Sojin to go do her homework in the kitchen and Kyungsoo pulls Baekhyun to the corner of the living room.

“What was that, Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun looks as worn out as he did a few months ago. “None of your business, Kyungsoo.”

Kyungsoo swallows down the hurt he feels and nods. “Okay, but I’ll pick Sojin up by myself until Baekbeom and Sohyun can.”

Baekhyun looks up as if he’s about to protest, but he stops and nods. “Alright. I’ll still have work the rest of the week anyway. It’s not like I’m on paternity leave.”

Before Kyungsoo can say anything else, Baekhyun leaves their corner and walks over to Sojin.

“Do you need any help, Sojin-ah?”

The smile is back on his face as he ruffles her hair and Kyungsoo goes upstairs just as he hears her go, “Yes, please samcheon!”

He looks around the attic and sees that there’s nothing to clean. The general clutter Baekhyun had before is all gone because after two weeks Kyungsoo had slowly organized the whole place until it was neat and tidy. Baekhyun had laughed when he realized that everything was clean and threw an arm around Kyungsoo’s waist squeezing.

“You’d be a great wife,” he had said, and Kyungsoo didn’t really have anything to say to that.

He walks to his room and paces around in it. It’s at times like these that he really misses Taehyung and Chanyeol. There’s no one to talk to when he has problems, especially if they’re with Baekhyun. On one hand, he’s thankful for Baekhyun and his family taking him in - no questions asked, but on the other Baekhyun is a handful to deal with and Kyungsoo doesn’t know if he’s equipped to deal with it if he doesn’t know the whole backstory.

A few months have passed and he still hasn’t asked about what happened between Baekhyun and Taeyeon. Now, he doesn’t know if he’ll ever ask.

He lays down and stares up at the now familiar ceiling. He can see the dots that he’s become so accustomed to and he reaches a hand up to trace them. He can almost hear Chanyeol’s deep voice telling him to go talk to Baekhyun, maybe do something for him and get him to open up. Taehyung’s equally deep voice telling him that he should soften him up and cuddle his way into finding out what’s going on. Kyungsoo prefers Chanyeol’s voice more, but he thinks about Taehyung’s idea for far longer than Chanyeol’s.

The next few days pass like this. Baekhyun goes to work. Kyungsoo opens the shop for a shorter amount of hours and closes up to pick up Sojin. Everyday he and Yixing greet each other maybe exchange a few words about their day, but nothing more. When Baekhyun gets home, they call Baekbeom and Sohyun.

There were complications so they had to transfer over to a hospital in the city. Sohyun is recovering, and the baby is being monitored for a heart condition, but they are constantly reassured over the phone that everything is fine.

Kyungsoo and Baekhyun don’t talk to each other, unless it’s necessary. Kyungsoo can feel himself sinking down slowly into that dark place he’s been avoiding for so long, but with no one to pull him out he keeps going down.

One day, he’s closing up shop when Taeyeon comes in.

“Hello,” Kyungsoo says bowing. She’s wearing a light blue dress with matching gloves, hat, and shoes again, but she manages to make it look stylish, not tacky.

“Good afternoon, Kyungsoo. I heard about Sohyun. How’s she doing?” Taeyeon asks pleasantly.

“She and the baby are still being monitored, but they’re doing much better,” Kyungsoo responds as he puts away the mop and washes his hands. He adds, “If you’re looking for Baekhyun, he’s at work.”

Taeyeon smiles in amusement. “No, I’m looking for you today, Kyungsoo.”

Kyungsoo looks up in surprise, but gives her an amicable smile. “Oh, what can I help you with?”

“I was wondering if we could talk,” Taeyeon says looking at him with an _almost_ piercing gaze, Almost, because there’s something akin to pity in them as well.

“I’m going to pick up Sojin,” Kyungsoo says, pointing towards the door. “But you can come with if you’d like.”

“I’d be glad to,” Taeyeon says, putting a hand on Kyungsoo’s forearm.

Kyungsoo locks up behind them and they begin walking.

“How’s Baekhyun these days anyway?” Taeyeon asks.

“A bit tired, but he’s doing pretty well.” Kyungsoo and Taeyeon both bow their heads as they pass an old woman who comes by the shop often.

“He tends to bury himself in work when he thinks he’s done something irreversible,” Taeyeon says simply.

“Oh…” Kyungsoo laughs and nods, but he’s not sure what she means.

“You need to corner him if things get bad,” Taeyeon says, and Kyungsoo realizes she’s trying to give him advice.

“I’ll keep that in mind, noona,” says Kyungsoo.

The rest of the walk they make small talk and Kyungsoo finds that he enjoys Taeyeon’s company quite a bit. She’s easy to talk to and keeps the conversation light and interesting.

At the front of the school, Kyungsoo sees Yixing from afar. With his height and familiar profile, he’s easy to find.

Taeyeon and Kyungsoo walk up to Yixing and Kyungsoo says, “Good afternoon, Yixing.”

Taeyeon’s eyes widen as she looks at Yixing. “Zhang Yixing?”

Yixing looks like a deer caught in headlights as he bows low. “Hello, Kyungsoo. Taeyeon noona, it’s nice to see you again.”

Taeyeon laughs her initial shock off and puts a gloved hand on his shoulder. “And you.”

Kyungsoo is more curious than ever with this situation, but the school bell rings just then and kids come streaming out.

“Have you seen Baekhyun lately?” Taeyeon asks breezily, but Kyungsoo can hear something hard behind her voice.

Sojin comes running and Kyungsoo picks her up taking her backpack in his other hand. “Oppa, I made a puppet!” She holds up her hand which has a sock and a face drawn on it.

“Good job, Sojin. Want to show me how it works?” Kyungsoo says as he walks away from Taeyeon and Yixing before he can hear Yixing’s answer.

“Yeah, you put it on your hand like this.” She slips the sock over her hand and then puts her small arm around the back of Kyungsoo’s neck, so that the puppet is on the other side. “And then you can talk to it!”

Kyungsoo smiles at Sojin then faces her sock puppet. “What’s your name?”

“Green Cabbage,” Sojin says as she moves the puppets mouth.

Kyungsoo bursts out laughing. “That’s an interesting name. Green Cabbage, do you like Sojin?”

Sojin moves the puppets mouth, “Yes! She’s the best.”

Then, Sojin leans into Kyungsoo’s ear, “But I don’t like him the best.”

Kyungsoo looks at her and asks, “Then who do you like best?”

Sojin’s normally outspoken demeanor becomes shy. “I like Minhyunnie the best.”

Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow. “Really?”

Sojin nods and gives a cute smile. “He said I’m his girlfriend.”

Kyungsoo can’t help but smile at that. “Okay, but if he’s your boyfriend why haven’t I officially met him yet?”

“I can introduce him right now if you want!” Sojin says excitedly, previous shyness forgotten.

Kyungsoo laughs and nods. They turn to face Yixing and Taeyeon, and their conversation looks like it’s escalated quickly. Minhyun is pulling at his father’s sleeves confusedly as Taeyeon looks as if she’s about to cry. Yixing looks even more uncomfortable, if that’s possible, and Kyungsoo immediately turns back around.

“Why don’t you take Minhyun to the park first? Oppa has to ask his father something.”

Sojin notices Taeyeon just then and looks up at him excitedly. “Can I take Taeyeon unnie too?”

Kyungsoo shakes his head. “Not right now. I need to talk to her as well.”

“Okay,” Sojin says nodding seriously to match Kyungsoo’s face. “I’ll take Minhyun to play.”

She runs over to Minhyun, grabbing his hand, and they run to the playground.

Kyungsoo puts a hand on Taeyeon’s shoulder. “Is everything alright here?”

Yixing looks away and begins fidgeting with the back of his neck as Taeyeon barely keeps from crying.

“Everything’s fine,” Taeyeon says, but her voice cracks.

Kyungsoo doesn’t know what to do, so he tells Yixing that he’s walking Taeyeon home and asks if he can watch Sojin and Minhyun at the park. Yixing nods, obviously relieved, and Kyungsoo puts an arm around Taeyeon.

“Let’s go,” Kyungsoo says softly. He’s thankful they’re on the outer edges of the waiting parents.

As they walk home, Taeyeon roughly pulls out an embroidered handkerchief from her small handbag.

“I wish I had a large backpack where I could store things, but apparently it doesn’t match,” Taeyeon says with an incredulous sniffle.

“How much can you store in there?” Kyungsoo asks, relieved she’s talking.

“This and my powder,” Taeyeon says as she wipes away her tears carefully. “I tried putting in some jerky, but I got caught.”

Kyungsoo stifles a laugh as he tries to imagine Taeyeon, all prim and proper, sneaking beef jerky into her just as prim and proper handbag.

“Well, hide it underneath your dress next time,” Kyungsoo says.

“That’s a good idea.” Taeyeon smiles a little. “Maybe I’ll do.”

Seeing that she’s finally calmed down enough, Kyungsoo asks, “I hope I’m not prying, but what was going on back there?”

“Nothing, just some misunderstandings that I still haven’t cleared up,” Taeyeon says, but the smile has been wiped off her face.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo says, unsurprised by the lack of information. He walks her all the way back to the shop and leaves her there.

“I’ll see you next time, noona,” Kyungsoo says with a bow.

“Yes, you will.” Taeyeon smiles, any sign of crying gone already. “Have a good day, Kyungsoo.”

“You too,” Kyungsoo says before turning around and walking a bit faster to the school again.

He gets there thirty minutes later because someone knocked over an entire stall in the market and Kyungsoo felt obligated to help.

When he finally reaches the school, Baekhyun is standing there angrily with his briefcase and work clothes.

“Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo asks out of breath. “What are you doing out of work?”

“Yixing borrowed the school phone to call my office,” Baekhyun says taking Sojin’s backpack from Kyungsoo. “He had to leave, but you left Sojin here with him.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and he looks over to see Sojin sitting at a bench looking dejectedly at the ground as if she was just scolded.

“I’m sorry, Taeyeon came with me, but she…” Kyungsoo trails off, unsure of how the conversation would go if they talked about what happened.

“It’s past four, Kyungsoo. Why would you leave her with Yixing of all people?” Baekhyun says trying to keep his voice down in anger.

“I’m sorry. I thought you two knew each other, and she wanted to play with Minhyun-”

“I talked with her about that already. She’s not allowed to play with him outside of school. Also, she told me about Yixing. Stop talking to him.”

Kyungsoo looks at Baekhyun in confusion and disbelief. “Why not? All we do is say hello to each other. Yixing’s a nice person.”

“Because!” Baekhyun practically shouts. “Because you just shouldn’t,” he finishes a little quieter.

Kyungsoo is glaring at Baekhyun now. “I think I’m going to say hello to whoever I want.”

A vein in Baekhyun’s forehead looks like it’s about to pop as he closes his eyes and sighs. “Can we talk about this when we get back home?”

Kyungsoo looks around and sees that there are still people milling around watching their kids at the playground.

“Fine.” He goes over to Sojin and takes her hand. “I’m sorry I left, Sojin.”

Sojin’s lower lip juts out when she looks at Baekhyun, but she nods at Kyungsoo. “It’s okay. I got to play with Minhyun a little more.”

Baekhyun looks like he wants to say something, but Kyungsoo shakes his head and picks her up in his arms. She wraps her arms around his neck and begins crying into his shoulder.

“S-samcheon w-won’t let me p-play with him anym-more,” she stutters as more tears flow down her face.

Baekhyun looks away guiltily and walks a little faster so that he doesn’t have to look at Kyungsoo’s disapproving expression and Sojin crying as she buries her head into Kyungsoo’s shoulder more.

Petting her hair softly, Kyungsoo walks the whole way with her in her arms. By the time the get to the shop the sleeve of his t-shirt is soaked through and Sojin’s waterworks have become hiccups. His arms are sore, but he walks up the stairs with her still in his arms as Baekhyun locks the door and walks up behind him.

He sets her down in her bed as she hiccups a little more. Her crying has exhausted her and her eyes start drooping. Pulling her shoes off and tucking her into the bed, Kyungsoo leaves, closing the door slightly.

“It’s not even five yet,” Baekhyun says quietly, looking a bit embarrassed from his outburst earlier.

“Kids need more sleep. I’ll wake her up for dinner.” Kyungsoo steps into the living room. “Do you want to tell me what that was about?”

Baekhyun looks up uneasily and shakes his head. “You don’t need to know.” He’s pulled off his jacket and tie. The button up he’s wearing is rolled up to his elbows and there’s an ink smear on the loosened collar.

He looks tired and there’s that unreadable expression again. “I’m going upstairs.”

Kyungsoo sighs and follows Baekhyun up. What did Taeyeon say? Corner him.

“Baekhyun, I know I haven’t been here that long, but I need to know what’s going on. I’m not going to stop talking to people just because you say so.”

Baekhyun makes a frustrated noise, running his hands through his hair. Kyungsoo follows behind him closely.

“And you should talk to Taeyeon. You can’t put things like this off.”

Baekhyun throws his hands down and abruptly whips around, almost running into Kyungsoo.

“It’s complicated,” he says, and this time he doesn’t move away. “It’s too complicated.”

“I can handle complicated.” Kyungsoo doesn’t move away either as Baekhyun glares up at the ceiling.

“Kyungsoo, you don’t understand what I mean,” Baekhyun says frustratedly as he looks at him, letting a breath out. His hair is messy from being run through so many times and his cheeks are flushed.

“Baekhyun, I won’t understand if you don’t tell me.”

Baekhyun takes another step forward and Kyungsoo is forced to take a step back. “You want to know?”

Kyungsoo nods. Baekhyun looks a little more desperate now. It almost reminds Kyungsoo of the time Taehyung begged Chanyeol to let them keep a cat and Chanyeol had almost agreed.

“Taeyeon refuses to acknowledge what happened.” Baekhyun takes another step forward and Kyungsoo takes another step back.

“Yixing…” Baekhyun stops and looks at Kyungsoo. “Do you really want to know?”

“Yes.” Baekhyun steps forward a little faster almost making Kyungsoo trip as he backs up.

“Yixing and Taeyeon,” Baekhyun takes a deep breath and Kyungsoo holds his breath as he waits for Baekhyun to finish his sentence. “The three of us are the only ones who know. You can’t tell anyone else. Please.” Baekhyun’s air of urgency is gone and that desperation is all that’s left. “You might leave after this.”

They’re up against a wall now and Baekhyun takes a step back this time.

“Only if you want me too,” Kyungsoo says evenly.

“You know that I consider you my friend, right?” Baekhyun says suddenly. “You’re really good with Sojin and Baekbeom and Sohyun love you. This family-we appreciate you.”

Kyungsoo is caught off guard by the unexpected confession and the sincerity in Baekhyun’s words.

“If you leave, you’re always welcome back.” Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo through his hair. “Really.”

Kyungsoo nods, unsure of what to say at that.

“It’s just-” Baekhyun takes a deep breath. “I won’t hold it against you if you decide to leave. Or you don’t want to talk to me anymore.”

“I don’t think you can scare me that badly,” Kyungsoo says with, what he hopes is, an easy laugh.

“It was an accident,” Baekhyun says, ignoring what Kyungsoo said. “I was interviewing Yixing for a small feature and we became friends. That was about a year ago.”

Kyungsoo’s leaning against the wall as he listens.

“We became friends, but-” Baekhyun takes a deep breath. “-I didn’t want to be friends.”

Baekhyun laughs, but it’s bitter and self-deprecating. “Yixing is married, did you know that? They’re separated, but he’s married. Left his wife back in Seoul for a job opportunity and his wife decided to travel.”

Kyungsoo’s beginning to understand, although he doesn’t think he wants to know how Taeyeon fits into the picture.

“He was lonely, and one night…things got out of hand.” Baekhyun can’t look at Kyungsoo. “And it stayed out of hand for a few months.”

Kyungsoo suddenly feels suffocated. Those looks, the affectionate touches. They couldn’t be real. They couldn’t-

“And Taeyeon came over to one night. My brother let her in thinking that we were,” Baekhyun scoffs. “ _Talking._ ”

This time he takes a step forward. They’re so close that if Kyungsoo just tilted his head up, they’d be kissing.

“And she caught us. Like this.” Baekhyun blinks and Kyungsoo can feel it against his skin as he dips his head down.

They don’t kiss, instead Baekhyun and Kyungsoo stare at each other. Kyungsoo’s breath is coming out in puffs and Baekhyun has that hard, sad look in his eyes again.

Baekhyun backs away slowly, and Kyungsoo has to resist the urge to lean forward.

“You were in love with him,” Kyungsoo says quietly.

Baekhyun’s head jerks up to look at him. “No, I _thought_ I was in love with him.”

“What happened after that?” Kyungsoo asks. He feels a little colder now that Baekhyun has backed away.

“Taeyeon pretended it didn’t happen and I stopped seeing Yixing. Soon after he and his wife started the divorce procedure. I don’t know if it’s because of me or that she found someone else, but I never bothered to ask.”

They stand in silence. Baekhyun in the middle of the room, Kyungsoo against the wall.

“I’m not going to leave,” Kyungsoo finally says. “And I won’t tell anyone.”

Baekhyun looks at him in surprise and disbelief. “You won’t?”

“I won’t.” Kyungsoo pushes off the wall. “But why did you take such a big risk telling me?”

“Because I needed to tell someone, or I’d tell everyone” Baekhyun gives a small laugh. “And you wouldn’t leave me alone.”

“I only asked you today,” Kyungsoo says indignantly.

“No, your eyes.” Baekhyun’s staring at him again although there's a relieved smile playing at the corner of his lips. “Your eyes are always questioning me.”


	2. Chapter 2

He’s back at home. It’s the summer before his sophomore year of college and he’s in the kitchen helping his mother clean the bean sprouts. Through the window, he can see his brother playing soccer with their cousins. 

“Don’t worry too much. You did fine last semester, I’m sure you’ll do fine this time as well,” his mother says to him smiling.

Kyungsoo doesn’t respond, just methodically cleans the bean sprouts and stares out the window.

“Either way, you should enjoy your summer right now, before you have to go back to school,” says his mother, oblivious to his silence, or maybe just ignoring it.

Just then he sees a cat run through the soccer game, deftly avoiding the boys and girls as they nearly trip from the disturbance. It runs right up to the window and jumps up. Kyungsoo makes a small noise of surprise and turns to his mother.

“Whose cat is that?”

“Hm?” His mother looks to where he’s pointing. “What cat?”

Kyungsoo stares at it and it stares back. Its brown eyes are observing him carefully. “That cat.”

“Where?” 

Kyungsoo turns to looks at his mother in disbelief. “What do you mean where? It’s right in front of us.”

His mother frowns and looks around, eyes passing over the cat. “Darling, are you okay? I don’t see any cat.”

Kyungsoo looks back at the cat saying, “I’m fine, but there’s a cat right th-” 

The cat leaps through the window, right through the glass, and just as its claws are reaching for Kyungsoo’s face, he wakes up.

There are hands on his face and voices in his head as he sits up in bed. He desperately tries to block them out and hits something solid and warm in his panic.

“Whoa.” Someone’s hands are holding his own down and Kyungsoo startles looking up.

“Are you okay?” Baekhyun asks. The moonlight illuminates his face and Kyungsoo shivers at how unreal the blue shadows make his face look.

“There was a cat,” Kyungsoo says as he continues to look around the room frantically, gripping the sheets as Baekhyun’s hands stay firm around his wrists.

“A cat?” Baekhyun says, but he makes no move to look around as he lets go of one of Kyungsoo’s hands to cup his cheek. “Soo, hey, Kyungsoo, look at me.”

The gentle way Baekhyun says his name makes Kyungsoo look up. Giving Kyungsoo a comforting smile, he lets go of his face and his wrist. Kyungsoo blinks as he realizes that he’s in his bedroom and unconsciously reaches back out for Baekhyun’s hand.

Baekhyun lets him take it as he sits down on the edge of Kyungsoo’s bed.

“You good?”

Kyungsoo nods, swallowing. “Yeah, yeah. I just had a dream.”

Baekhyun hums understandingly. “A bad dream?”

Kyungsoo thinks about it for a second looking at Baekhyun’s fingers, playing with them. “No. Just…unsettling.”

Baekhyun adjusts his position so that he and Kyungsoo are sitting side by side, both of them leaning against the headboard.

“What was the dream about?”

“About-about my mom.” Kyungsoo pauses to think again. What _was_ his dream about?

“What about the cat?” Baekhyun’s voice is soothing as Kyungsoo’s heart rate gradually calms. 

“The cat…” Kyungsoo’s eyes widen. “The cat tried to attack me. With its claws.”

“Ouch,” Baekhyun says with a wince. “That seems pretty bad.”

Kyungsoo nods and runs a finger down each of Baekhyun’s. He’s beginning to feel drowsy again with Baekhyun’s calm voice and the weight of his side pressed against his own.

“Are you falling asleep, Soo?” Baekhyun asks, amused.

Kyungsoo nods again, still playing with his fingers, but his head is drooping slowly onto Baekhyun’s shoulder.

This time there’s something much more implicit in his voice and it makes Kyungsoo shiver again. 

“Do you want me to stay?”

Kyungsoo barely manages a “yes” before he falls back asleep.

When he wakes up again, the smell of lavender is much stronger than usual and he tries to find the source, nudging his nose against something warm. His eyes fly open and he’s greeted with the sight of Baekhyun’s collarbones. 

“That tickles,” Baekhyun says sleepily and Kyungsoo falls off the bed in a thump as he tries to move away. Baekhyun rubs his eyes and looks down to see Kyungsoo sprawled out on the ground and staring at the ceiling with his big eyes.

“Soo, are you alright?”

“No, I think I’m going to-” Kyungsoo doesn’t finish his sentence, instead jumping up to leave the room.

Baekhyun stares at the door for a minute before shrugging his shoulders and going back to sleep. Kyungsoo, on the other hand, goes to the bathroom and splashes his face with water. He shakes his head and tries to remember why Baekhyun was in his bed. They didn’t do anything, did they?

He lifts his head up to look at the mirror when he suddenly pictures a cat flying through it. Jolting a little, he remembers his dream. Sighing in relief, Kyungsoo brushes his hair out of his face and brushes his teeth. Right after he finishes, the alarm clock goes off and he hears Baekhyun groan and come out of his bedroom. Rushing, Kyungsoo wipes his face and spits out his toothpaste. He bursts out of the bathroom to go back to his room to change and Baekhyun can only turn to watch him as he yawns.

Kyungsoo shakes his head again, before he’s hit with a sharp pain in his head. Doubling over, he holds onto the side of the bed and closes his eyes. There are voices again and Kyungsoo can now remember hearing the same thing last night, right after he woke up from his dream.

_You don’t belong here._

Kyungsoo reels from the pain and suddenly unable to see. The voice doesn’t sound like it’s in his head anymore and he wonders, through the pain, if this has to do with traveling sixty years back in time. The pain disappears abruptly and leaves Kyungsoo gasping from the remnants of the sensation of having his head split open.

Closing his eyes, Kyungsoo sinks down onto the ground and takes deep breaths. When he finally composes himself, he gets dressed and leaves the room. Baekhyun is standing at his desk and perusing through some documents, already dressed in his regular work clothes.

“Morning,” Kyungsoo says as he opens the fridge.

Baekhyun looks up and grins. “Morning.”

Kyungsoo pulls out some bread and takes it straight out of the bag to eat. “Did you have breakfast yet?”

“No, there’s some breakfast thing at work today, so I’m going to eat there.” Baekhyun stuffs a few papers into his briefcase and walks over to Kyungsoo, plucking a piece of bread from Kyungsoo’s hand. “But I don’t mind some bread.”

Kyungsoo frowns as he watches Baekhyun eat it. “That was going to be my breakfast.”

Baekhyun just laughs and picks up his briefcase. “Sleep well?”

Kyungsoo reddens and turns around to put the bread back in the fridge, back facing Baekhyun.

“Sorry about that. Did I wake you up?”

Baekhyun nods, grinning as he watches Kyungsoo shuffle around rearranging food in the fridge.

“You were thrashing around a lot. And all for a cat.”

Kyungsoo turns around like he’s going to protest, but stops when he sees Baekhyun’s teasing smile.

“I have to go now. I’ll see you later, Soo.” Kyungsoo just laughs and grabs Baekhyun’s briefcase for him. 

“Go down first. I’ll hand it to you.”

Baekhyun’s grin brightens and he climbs down. When Kyungsoo hands him his briefcase, Baekhyun gives him a little wave through the trapdoor and laughs as he leaves. Kyungsoo can feel his heart beating a little faster than he’d like after seeing his smile and chides himself for going there at all.

The first week after Baekhyun’s confession they danced around each other at home. It was awkward enough that Kyungsoo initiated a talk. After clearing up how they felt about the other (good friends), they moved on from that, but Baekhyun and Kyungsoo have become even closer. Baekhyun is always smiling and he seems much lighter than before now that he has someone to share his secret with.

Kyungsoo is getting more used to it, but he often forgets where they are. In 1957, Baekhyun could get crushed if Kyungsoo doesn’t keep his secret, maybe even killed. 

Kyungsoo also doesn’t know what to do with their relationship. They confirmed that they were friends and Kyungsoo wants it to stay like that, but every once in a while he’ll catch himself staring at Baekhyun’s profile when they’re sitting together for dinner, just them. The same goes for Baekhyun as well. He’s much less obvious about it than Kyungsoo is, but sometimes he’ll get a gleam in his eye when they’re talking and Kyungsoo can’t help the pleased feeling he gets from it.

He tries to avoid it because he doesn’t need another reason to stay, but it’s much harder when he lives with Baekhyun. It’s December now and he’s been here for half a year. He’s beginning to feel lighter and lighter every day he stays here, save for the pain and the voices and Kyungsoo’s afraid that he might choose to stay despite those holdbacks.

Kyungsoo suppresses these thoughts and makes his way downstairs to the shop. It’s the beginning of December and he has to help Baekbeom decorate the front. When he reaches the storage room, he’s hit with a blast of cold air. Turning around in annoyance Kyungsoo looks for the source of cold when he sees Baekbeom drag a large cardboard box from outside.

“Kyungsoo! Hey, can you help me out?” Baekbeom gestures outside the door. “I need to get some things but they’re at this place where these teenagers hang out.” Baekbeom drops the box with a grunt. “And the teenagers don’t like me.” Baekbeom frowns. “I don’t know why, but I need someone else to get it.”

“Okay, where should I go?” says Kyungsoo.

“It’s in a skate park. There’s a small shop where I store some decorations and other things all year long.” Baekbeom laughs when Kyungsoo eyes him suspiciously. “Nothing weird. It’s just cheap there. I’ll give you the name and address.”

Baekbeom goes to the front to grab paper and a pen. He returns a minute later with the slip of paper and hands it to Kyungsoo. “Just show the manager - his name is Minseok - this and you should get everything you need.”

Kyungsoo nods and takes the paper, but before he leaves he realizes that he doesn’t have a coat and he tells Baekbeom so.

“Oh, let me grab one.” Baekbeom runs upstairs and comes back down moments later with a bulky brown coat. “Here.”

Kyungsoo puts it on and the familiar aroma of lavenders hits him. It must be Baekhyun’s old coat. The thought of it makes Kyungsoo feel just a little warmer.

“I’ll get going now,” Kyungsoo says as he keeps the paper at hand.

He makes his way to a part of town he’s never been to before when he sees a familiar cat. It’s strolling around with a little knit sweater on and Kyungsoo laughs a little to see how grumpy it looks. His eyes widen, however, when he realizes that it’s the same cat from his dream. Remembering the claws, Kyungsoo steers clear of the cat. As he walks he bumps into someone and they both fall over from the force.

“What the h-” The man stops mid-sentence and Kyungsoo looks up rubbing his shoulder. “You.”

Kyungsoo and the man stare at each other, and Kyungsoo can feel himself glaring at the man when he doesn’t give any explanation.

“What do you mean?” says Kyungsoo. The man looks like he’s younger than he is and his hair is platinum blonde. Kyungsoo does a double take. Platinum blonde? Was that even possible at this time? There’s an annoyed look on his face, but it seems like that’s what he regularly looks like because there’s an apologetic look as the man’s eyebrows come together.

“Are you okay? We really need to stop meeting like this.” He holds his hand out and Kyungsoo takes it, getting up.

“Meeting like this?” Kyungsoo asks as he studies the man’s face. It clicks. “Oh, I never got to actually thank you for last time.” He did pull him out of the way of a moving car.

“Yeah, no problem,” the man says with a nod of his head.

“I’m Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo.” He holds a hand out to shake, but suddenly the cat walks up to them, meowing irritably.

“I’m sorry, cutie,” the man says in a sickly sweet voice, his intimidating appearance changing entirely as he bends down to pick up the cat. “Are you cold, sweetie?”

Kyungsoo can only watch in disturbed shock as the man coos and pets the cat, missing the fact that the cat is very pissed off. When it tries to swipe one of its claws at him he dodges it and wags a finger in its face. “That’s not very nice, now is it?”

Knowing that he’s spent too long here, Kyungsoo gives an awkward bow and goodbye and hurries over to the shop Baekbeom was talking about. It’s small and there’s graffiti everywhere. Baekbeom was also very accurate when he described the shop to be in a skate park. As in right in the smack dab middle of it. Kyungsoo has to carefully make his way to the middle, avoiding being run over by several annoyed teenagers.

“Move it old man!” Someone says to him and Kyungsoo shoots the kid a glare shutting him up immediately.

When he enters the shop, the bell attached to the door rings.

“Kid, I fucking mean it. I don’t have any damn-” The man at the counter stops abruptly and stands a little straighter. “You aren’t a kid. Sorry about that.” He gives a smile and Kyungsoo is struck by how adorable the man looks. His cheeks are much chubbier than when he’s glaring and his eyes are wide and friendly. There are tattoos running up and down one arm and one on the side of his neck stopping behind his ear. He’s dressed nicely enough with clean and simple clothes. “How can I help you today?”

Kyungsoo looks around the shop and sees a variety of snacks and first aid supplies before he remembers what he’s supposed to be doing here.

“Uh, I’m here to pick some things up for Byun Baekbeom. I’m supposed to talk to a Minseok,” Kyungsoo says handing the slip of paper to his outstretched hand.

“That’s me,” Minseok says as he reads the paper. “Alright, let me get you the stuff, although you might need a cart.”

Kyungsoo nods and waits as Minseok brings out four heavy looking boxes. Other than the veins popping out of his arms, he makes lifting the boxes look easy.

“There,” Minseok says with a huff. “That’s the last box.”

Kyungsoo stares at them for a second. Each box is at least two feet high and two feet wide.

“I walked here.”

“That’s where the cart comes in.” Minseok goes to the back again and brings out a metal cart. There’s enough room so that two can go in side by side. Minseok begins putting the boxes in and Kyungsoo jumps in to help.

“Do I need to pay anything?” Kyungsoo asks when they finish.

“No, Baekbeom already covered that.” Minseok looks at the stack of boxes. “Do you think you can pull that all the way back? I can ask one of the boys to help if you want.”

Kyungsoo looks at the boxes for a second before he nods. “Yeah, I think that’d be best.”

“One moment please.” Minseok gets out from behind the counter and opens the door to the front of the shop, poking his head out. “Jungkook!” Minseok comes back in. “He’ll be here in a second.”

A young man comes in with a skateboard in hand. “I’m here, sir.”

The way he speaks is odd and Minseok gives a sort of grimace. “We talked about this. Just call me hyung or Minseok.”

Jungkook nods and keeps his eyes on the ground. Stepping forward he hands Minseok the skateboard with two outstretched hands as if presenting him with a sword. “I have cleaned the board.”

Kyungsoo looks at Jungkook a little confused and a little amused. Minseok is definitely grimacing now.

“It’s a skateboard, and thank you.” He takes the board from Jungkook and points to the cart. “Help this man-” Minseok looks over questioningly.

“Kyungsoo,” Kyungsoo says.

“-Kyungsoo,” Minseok continues, “Bring this to where he needs it. Then come straight back.”

Jungkook nods obediently and Minseok looks at him uneasily. “Straight back, okay? No wandering off.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hyung,” Minseok corrects, but he sighs knowingly. He leans in so that Jungkook can’t quite hear him. “He’s a little out of it. Came from Busan. Talks like he’s from the Joseon era or something.” Kyungsoo nods and eyes the boy. He seems strong and smart enough. “Just don’t bring up anything TV related. I don’t think he’s ever seen one before. Won’t shut up if you bring it up.”

“Alright, thank you, Minseok,” Kyungsoo says as he steps away.

“Of course. Tell Baekbeom we need to have a few drinks sometime.” Minseok gives another friendly smile and Jungkook grabs the cart silently.

When they make it through the skate park, Kyungsoo tries to talk to him. 

“Jungkook, was it?”

Jungkook nods as he pushes the large cart.

“I’m Kyungsoo.”

Jungkook nods again.

“Um, how long have you been here in Bucheon?”

“Since the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t know what to say in response to that.

They walk the rest of the way as Kyungsoo peppers small questions throughout. Kyungsoo thought he himself was shy, but Jungkook is a totally different matter. His voice is much higher than what Kyungsoo expected from his stature and he has large doe eyes that look around every so often, widening at things like ads and the rare car.

“Where do you come from?” Kyungsoo asks. “Did Minseok say Busan? That’s where I come from too.”

“I do not think we speak of the same Busan,” Jungkook says in his high lyrical voice and Kyungsoo picks up something odd from Jungkook’s tone.

“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo asks. They’re almost back at the shop by now.

“My Busan is very…different.” Jungkook is vague, but he looks around in wonder again. “Very different.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t say anything the rest of the way back, but his throat feels like it’s closing up and he doesn’t want to ask Jungkook any more questions.

“Here, this is where I am.” Kyungsoo stops Jungkook in front of the shop.

Jungkook nods and picks up a box almost falling over at the weight. Minseok must have been really strong. 

Baekbeom comes rushing out when he sees them and he gives Jungkook a smile he usually aims at the customers. “Thank you, I can take that.” To Kyungsoo he mouths, “Get him something to drink”.

Kyungsoo hurries in and is thankful to see that Baekbeom has already prepared some tea. Taking one of the cups, Kyungsoo brings it to Jungkook as Baekbeom brings the boxes in.

“It’s cold. Have some before you go.” Kyungsoo gives Jungkook the cup and goes to pick one of the boxes up. His eyes widen when he feels how heavy it is. He’s never going to arm wrestle Minseok, that’s for sure.

When Jungkook finally leaves with the cart, Kyungsoo turns to Baekbeom, eyes narrowed.

“What?” Baekbeom asks a bit fearfully at Kyungsoo’s expression.

“What’s in those boxes?”

Baekbeom’s smile immediately returns. “You want to see?”

He opens one of the boxes up and Kyungsoo sees a huge toy set with a little doll family and everything. “This is Sojin’s.”

He opens the next one up. It’s full of clothes and books. “This one’s for Sohyun.”

He opens up the next one and it’s full of ink, notebooks, and books. There are also tight bundles of dried lavender in the corner. “Baekhyun’s.”

Baekbeom looks up at Kyungsoo apologetically. “I’m sorry, I don’t have anything for you.”

Kyungsoo shakes his head. “Giving me a place to stay is more than enough.”

Baekbeom laughs and pats Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “You’re a free employee. I think you’re the one getting shortchanged here.”

Kyungsoo laughs with him and disagrees. “No, I’m really thankful for everything your family has done for me these past few months.”

Baekbeom gives Kyungsoo a warm smile and ruffles his hair. “We thank you as well.”

Later, after they empty the last box full of decorations, Kyungsoo takes a break in the storage room and he’s never been more thankful he has no money to go anywhere. If he did, he has no idea where he’d be now. Probably far more lost that he is now. Maybe a bit more like Jungkook. Kyungsoo thinks about Jungkook’s odd mannerisms and dated way of speaking. Holding his head in his hands, Kyungsoo shakes his head. It couldn’t be.

That night, Baekhyun comes home with a pocket full of candies that he sneaks past Sojin. He and Kyungsoo end up sitting on the couch leaning against each other and eating the candies one by one. Baekhyun laughs every time Kyungsoo’s makes a noise of disapproval when he throws the wrappers between them and Kyungsoo tries, and fails, not to laugh with him.

He goes to sleep again, but he wakes up in cold sweat from another dream that he can’t remember. There were no cats this time. Just disappointed voices and failed dreams. He gets up to get a cup of water and sees that it’s only twelve thirty. He jumps a little when he sees Baekhyun still up, working on his latest article.

“Can’t sleep?” Baekhyun asks turning around. The only light is from his desk lamp and from where Kyungsoo is standing he looks like he’s surrounded by a halo of light.

“Another dream.” When he sees Baekhyun’s smirk, he adds, “No cats this time.”

“Aw, but a cat would’ve made it so much more interesting.” Baekhyun gets up and Kyungsoo sees that he’s already changed for bed.

“Could you not sleep either?”

“Yeah, just thinking.” Baekhyun’s smirk is replaced by a little quirk of his head and a contemplating expression.

“Can I stay up with you?” Kyungsoo asks as he walks over to Baekhyun’s desk.

Baekhyun thinks about it for a second before shaking his head. “No, we should sleep.” He turns off his light and the room is plunged into darkness.

“What’d you do that for?” Kyungsoo says in annoyance.

“What, are you scared?” Baekhyun asks with a laugh.

“No, but now I don’t know how to get back to my room without tripping.”

“Hey, Soo.” Kyungsoo can feel Baekhyun moving closer. “I’m going to ask you a question. Don’t be weird about it.”

“Okay.” Kyungsoo and Baekhyun bump into each other.

“Do you want to sleep together?”

Kyungsoo doesn’t say anything for a second. His eyes are slowly growing used to the darkness of the room and he can just make out Baekhyun’s chin with the faint light from the window. It’s much closer than he expects it to be.

“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo wishes his voice sounded less breathy.

“Like we did last night.” Kyungsoo lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in.

“Do you think it’ll help us sleep?” Because it’s so cold, Kyungsoo is more acutely aware of the heat coming off of Baekhyun as their arms press against each other.

“You never know until you try.” Baekhyun’s pressing more forcefully as if he’s trying to imprint his arm into Kyungsoo’s side.

“Whose room?” Kyungsoo asks, pressing back. Their arms are going to be bruised at this rate.

“I like mine better.” There’s that cheeky tone again, but the pressure doesn’t let up and Kyungsoo almost gasps when Baekhyun’s fingers splay out on his hip. “I know the way in the dark.”

Kyungsoo allows Baekhyun to wrap his arms around his waist and guide him from behind as they make their way to his bedroom. In any other situation like this, Kyungsoo would probably be a little drunk and a lot more lonely, but he just feels a thrum of anticipation and nervousness.

Baekhyun opens the door and closes it behind them and they’re in complete darkness now. The curtains are drawn in his room and Kyungsoo can practically taste the smell of lavender in the room. When Kyungsoo reaches up to turn on the lamp so that they can see, Baekhyun catches his arm by the wrist.

“Don’t turn the lights on.” Kyungsoo can feel his breath on his ear and he stops.

“Why not?” asks Kyungsoo. Baekhyun is blatantly back hugging Kyungsoo with his chin tucked in Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

“I can find my bed.” Kyungsoo’s too sober for this.

“Okay,” he says quietly, suddenly feeling the silence in the room.

They edge forward step by step until Kyungsoo’s knees hit the edge of the bed. Baekhyun laughs in his ear, causing shivers to go down his back.

“Found it.” Baekhyun lets go of Kyungsoo and spins him around so that his back is to the bed. “I don’t need to guide you into it, do I?” There’s that teasing tone.

“Shut up,” Kyungsoo says as he climbs onto the bed, finding the end of the blanket and pulling. 

The bed dips when Baekhyun gets on as well. He pulls the blankets over himself and moves closer to Kyungsoo. Slowly he wraps his arms around Kyungsoo’s waist. “Is this okay?”

Kyungsoo nods, but then remembers that Baekhyun can’t see him and croaks out, “Yes.” His throat is dry and he hopes that Baekhyun can’t feel his heart beating so fast. They don’t say anything else, and after a while Kyungsoo relaxes into Baekhyun’s arms, falling asleep.

The next morning the alarm clock wakes Kyungsoo up. He feels a warm weight around him and he almost falls out of the bed again. Luckily strong arms pull him back and Kyungsoo twists around to face Baekhyun. There’s light coming in through the sides of the curtains and Baekhyun grabs Kyungsoo, burying his head in his chest.

“It’s too bright,” he mumbles.

“Well, you need to get up,” Kyungsoo says gently pushing Baekhyun off of himself and standing up. “The alarm just went off.”

“No,” Baekhyun says, dragging Kyungsoo back down. He’s stronger than Kyungsoo expects and he stumbles face first into the pillows.

“Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says in a low voice. Baekhyun’s eyes immediately fly open and he sees a very pissed off Kyungsoo looking him in the face.

“Haha…” He crawls slowly off the bed. “I’m up!” And he dashes out of the room.

Kyungsoo sighs and lays back down for a second. Baekhyun has work for the rest of the week and then he gets a week long break to celebrate the new year. Kyungsoo doesn’t have any work because Baekbeom and Sohyun left last night to travel to a faraway hospital in order to find more treatment options for their baby boy, Soyoung. His heart condition isn’t life threatening, but it’s definitely not something they should overlook. They took Sojin as well. She has no school and it’s been awhile since they’ve traveled for fun. Baekbeom had told Kyungsoo where he hid Baekhyun’s gift and he plans to give Sojin and Sohyun their gifts after they come back.

That means Kyungsoo will just be hanging around the building by himself. Sure, he’ll have some errands to run but not enough to keep him occupied for the whole day. Jungkook’s face flashes through his mind, but Kyungsoo pushes it away. He doesn’t want to deal with that right now.

After he cleans the whole first floor and reorganizes the entire storage room, Kyungsoo checks the time. It’s noon, but now he has about six hours to himself. Thinking about it, he decides to go out and see if he can find the man with the platinum blond hair and the cat from yesterday. As he leaves though, Taeyeon appears. She’s wearing a fur coat and her silk gloves have been switched to leather and she’s no longer wearing heels, but fashionable leather boots.

“Kyungsoo, are you free today?” Taeyeon asks.

“Yes, I am.” Kyungsoo lets Taeyeon take his arm.

“Would you mind keeping me company?” Seeing as he’s already being pulled down the road, Kyungsoo just nods.

They walk to a park covered in snow and, save for a few brave souls, there’s no one else here at this hour. Taeyeon clears off part of a bench with Kyungsoo’s help and they both sit down. She reaches inside of her coat and pulls out a jerky and begins chewing on it while Kyungsoo blinks several times to make sure he didn’t just hallucinate that.

“Do you want some?” she asks, holding out another one.

“No, I’m okay,” Kyungsoo replies as he watches her eat it aggressively.

“I’m on a diet. There’s a gala tomorrow in the city and my dress was fitted during the fall, so I need to make sure I can fit into it. This has to be a secret.” Taeyeon gives Kyungsoo a wink, and Kyungsoo smiles back.

“I won’t tell a soul.”

They sit in silence for a few minutes as Taeyeon works on her jerky ferociously. It reminds Kyungsoo of a small dog chewing on a big bone and it makes Taeyeon all the more endearing.

She works it into a much smaller piece before she finally speaks up again.

“Do you know why I’m engaged to Baekhyun?”

Kyungsoo freezes. “No.”

Taeyeon looks out across the park at something Kyungsoo can’t see as she continues chewing.

“His family is rich. Beyond rich actually.” Kyungsoo doesn’t say anything. “I don’t know if you knew, but his brother owns an entire building, in fact, it’s the fifth tallest building in this town. His maternal grandparents own one of the richest pieces of land in the country and his paternal grandparents are head of some small brand that’s doing exceptionally well since the 17th century, apparently.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t like where this is going.

“My family owns most of the property in this town and one of my great-grandfathers was a popular general in the army. He became really influential and rich.” Taeyeon laughs hollowly. “I was born into politics. Not really much else to me.”

She brushes a piece of stray hair away from her face and looks Kyungsoo in the eye. “I heard you found out what happened.”

“About?” He’s on guard now.

“Baekhyun and-” Taeyeon takes a deep breath and looks up at the sky. “-and that man.”

“Oh, yeah,” Kyungsoo says slowly. “I did.”

“He’s one of the most eligible bachelors in this town. I mean with his background and his personality…” Taeyeon trails off still looking up, but Kyungsoo can now see that she’s trying to hold in tears. “I’m sorry that neither of us got much of a choice, and I’m sure he would much rather be with anyone other than me. But-” Taeyeon’s voice cracks. “-But I’m trying to make it work. We may not be each other’s first choice, but I think if we both tried we could grow to like each other. Even if it’s just as friends.”

_I don’t want you two to be friends._

Kyungsoo feels a stab of guilt but the thought doesn’t go away and he doesn’t shove it down like he usually does. He doesn’t want Baekhyun to fall in love with her or become closer than he is with Baekhyun. He watches Taeyeon control her tears, blinking carefully while staring at the clouds, and it really hits Kyungsoo. She’s beautiful. She’s beautiful and intelligent and far better for Baekhyun than he ever would be. Even here pouring her heart out to Kyungsoo and scrunching up her face so that it resembles something _almost_ ugly, she’s still far better than he is at his best. 

He feels the cold drowning feeling seeping back into his chest.

“I’m sure you guys can work it out,” Kyungsoo says and he hopes Taeyeon can’t hear the lie in his voice.

“Thank you.” Taeyeon says turning to look at him. The tears are mostly gone and she gives him a vulnerable smile. “I had no one else to talk to, so thank you.”

Kyungsoo smiles back, but he feels like his heart is about to break into pieces.

~

“I’m home, honey!” Baekhyun calls out in a ridiculously sugary voice and Kyungsoo looks up from the kitchen with an unamused look on his face.

“Good for you.” Kyungsoo turns back to the stove and stirs the sugar water. He has the sweet potatoes in the oven and in a minute he’ll start with the taro once the water begins boiling.

“Sorry, I had to finish up some stuff. I’ll be home tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that.” Baekhyun takes the wooden spoon from Kyungsoo. “I’ll stir.”

It’s Friday and Kyungsoo and Baekhyun have settled into a rhythm that has a very strong resemblance to how Sohyun and Baekbeom live. Since that night three days ago, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo have been sleeping together every night and it all feels so domestic Kyungsoo wants to cry. 

In bed, Baekhyun likes to cuddle. A lot. Kyungsoo is fine with it except it begins to feel to intimate, as if the whole situation wasn’t already. Baekhyun always nuzzles his head into Kyungsoo’s neck and holds him tight enough that Kyungsoo hopes he never lets go. At times like these, Kyungsoo can feel that cold in him disappear and something filled to the brim with warmth find its way into his heart.

The days pass like this and New Year’s Eve comes around. Baekhyun manages to get Kyungsoo a bit tipsy and he laughs every time Kyungsoo giggles at something.

The whole night Kyungsoo keeps grabbing Baekhyun’s fingers and playing with them. “I like your fingers. They’re nice and long.”

He sobers up around eleven and Baekhyun can’t get him to drink anymore. “We started this morning, that’s enough, Baek.”

“Okay, fine.”

Kyungsoo can see that something’s bothering Baekhyun and he finally asks.

“What’s wrong?”

Baekhyun looks at him, his eyes seem darker than usual and they keep drifting around Kyungsoo’s face, even when he isn’t drunk. “Are we friends, Kyungsoo?”

Kyungsoo tilts his head back a little and doesn’t answer the question right away. Finally, “If you want to be…friends, then we can be friends.”

The alarm goes off just then, set by Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to know when the new year starts, and they both jump from the noise. Baekhyun grabs the alarm and turns it off.

“Happy New Year,” Baekhyun says quietly. The room suddenly feels too quiet, too small for the two of them.

Kyungsoo doesn’t repeat it back, and Baekhyun looks up to see him looking at their hands. He’s still playing with them. He finally looks up and when they make eye contact, Baekhyun surges forward. The fall off the couch in a heap of tangled limbs, and Baekhyun’s weight presses Kyungsoo against the floor as they kiss.

Kyungsoo can’t think about the consequences, who he’s screwing over, when he kisses Baekhyun.

_Just this once. Do what you want, just this once._

When they pull away, Baekhyun says, “I don’t want to be friends.”

Kyungsoo’s breath comes in gasps, and he looks up at Baekhyun whose lips are red and bruised.

“I don’t want to be friends either.”

They somehow manage to make their way to the bedroom, clothes coming off quickly. They make a general mess and Kyungsoo can’t tell his right from his left as Baekhyun kisses up his neck, pressing into him slowly.

Kyungsoo’s gasps pierce the air as Baekhyun works him through it slowly. Too slowly. Maybe it’s all the pent up tension from these past few weeks or even months, but Kyungsoo can only tell him to speed up as he pulls him down for another heavy kiss.

Afterwards, Kyungsoo feels sticky and sweaty but so so sated. Baekhyun sleepily pulls him closer and Kyungsoo complies easily. They fall asleep wrapped up in each other.

In the morning, Kyungsoo wakes up feeling a sense of dread. When he feels Baekhyun shifting behind him, he feels skin on skin and last night comes rushing back. Baekhyun is still asleep, so Kyungsoo stumbles out of bed as quietly as he can, pulling on the first t-shirt and pants he sees. When he walks to the living room, he can feel an ache between his thighs and he sits down on the couch. There’s still the empty wine bottle and unfinished glasses on the table and Kyungsoo glares at them. He feels like shit as he thinks of Taeyeon and Yixing, but he can’t reverse what’s been done. 

He doesn’t want to.

Where does this put them? Kyungsoo shakes his head and gets up to go to the bathroom. When he looks in the mirror he sees a line of wine red bruises going up and down his neck and underneath his shirt. 

_Don’t regret it. After all this, you shouldn’t regret it._

Kyungsoo wants to agree with the voice in his head, but he’s beginning to think of the consequences and he doesn’t know if he can handle them. The first thing that pops up in his head is Taeyeon and Kyungsoo can feel the guilt wrenched deep inside him. She was kind and friendly to him from the very first day and this is what he does in return. 

_She can’t give him what you did._

“What, sex?” Kyungsoo scoffs to his reflection. The voice in his head is really starting to bother him, and he has a strong feeling it isn’t his own.

There’s no answer this time, and Kyungsoo leaves to go to his room. He had grabbed Baekhyun’s clothes on accident and he wants to change out of them. Before he can get into his room, however, Baekhyun comes out. They both freeze in their tracks.

“Soo,” Baekhyun says, looking unsure of himself. There are hickeys all over his neck as well, and Kyungsoo pulls up his own collar self-consciously.

“Morning,” Kyungsoo says quietly. “I need to change.”

Baekhyun nods and doesn’t say anything else as Kyungsoo goes into his room and shuts the door. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Kyungsoo quickly changes out of his clothes and goes to the kitchen. 

Baekhyun comes out of the bathroom a few minutes later and Kyungsoo is pulling out the leftover food from last night, heating them up over the stove.

“There’s a lot of leftover sweet potato,” Kyungsoo says in, what he hopes is, an even voice.

Baekhyun latches onto the topic quickly. “Well, I wasn’t the one who wanted to cook twenty every night.”

“They were on sale,” Kyungsoo grumbles. “So I bought a few too many.”

Baekhyun laughs and Kyungsoo smiles a little at that.

“I’ll have one sweet potato then.” Kyungsoo nods, still facing the stove.

When he finally sets the potatoes down, Baekhyun takes one and Kyungsoo goes to sit down across from him, but the minute he sits down completely he winces.

“Are you okay?” Baekhyun asks as he gets up to see what’s wrong.

“Yeah, it’s nothing.” Kyungsoo adjusts his position. “I’m just sore…”

Realization dawns on Baekhyun’s face and the awkward atmosphere from earlier settles in.

“Is it bad?” Baekhyun asks after a long period of silence.

“No, it’s fine.” Kyungsoo swallows drily.

“Sorry, I-” Baekhyun doesn’t finish his sentence and it hangs between them awkwardly.

“I need to take inventory of the storage, so…” Kyungsoo gets up and walks backwards, facing Baekhyun. “If you need anything I’ll be down there.”

He leaves Baekhyun slowly eating the sweet potato and watching him leave with something like longing. When he reaches the first floor, he goes to find the clipboard from behind the counter. Right as he turns around, Baekhyun’s head pops out from behind the curtain separating the back from the front.

Kyungsoo jolts and lets out a sigh. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” Baekhyun comes out from behind the doorway. “I just thought that maybe I could help you? It’d get things done quicker. And then after, maybe we could talk?” Kyungsoo’s never heard Baekhyun sound so timid before.

“Okay. I’m assuming you know how this works,” Kyungsoo says walking towards the back.

“Yeah, I was the one who did it last year,” Baekhyun says with a nod and a small grin.

“Well, that should make things quick,” Kyungsoo says as he skims the list of things. 

He’s right. It only takes about half an hour to get everything catalogued, then Baekhyun is pulling him upstairs to the attic again. They sit on the couch side by side and Kyungsoo is surprised to see that Baekhyun has cleared away the wine and glasses from last night.

“Last night,” Baekhyun starts carefully, and Kyungsoo is looking at his hands again. “What was that?”

Kyungsoo looks up for a second before looking back down. “What do you want it to be?”

“I-I want it to be…something,” Baekhyun says.

Kyungsoo bites his lip hard as he thinks about his next words.

“I don’t know how that would go, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun’s expression falls, but he speaks up. “It’s alright. I get it.”

“It’s just, what do you even expect from this?” Kyungsoo’s heart squeezes just as Baekhyun cringes at the harshness of Kyungsoo’s words.

“You,” he finally says. “I just want you.”

Kyungsoo ducks his head down immediately and focuses his attention back on Baekhyun’s fingers that are lacing and unlacing themselves as he waits for Kyungsoo to say something.

“What?” Kyungsoo can only say.

“That’s what I expect, or want, out of this. Isn’t that how a relationship works?” Baekhyun sounds a little firmer now.

“You don’t want to be in a relationship with me,” Kyungsoo says quickly. There’s too many reasons for that.

“Are you sure it’s not the other way around?” Baekhyun asks and Kyungsoo watches as one of his hands reaches out to tip his chin up so that they’re looking at each other. “Kyungsoo.”

“Don’t…say my name like that,” Kyungsoo says as they look at each other. Baekhyun must see Kyungsoo’s helpless expression because he moves his hand to cup Kyungsoo’s cheek and Kyungsoo makes no move to stop him. “It’s definitely not the other way around.”

“How do I know you’re not just saying that?” Baekhyun asks quietly. He looks so vulnerable as he waits for Kyungsoo’s answer, and Kyungsoo finds himself throwing common sense out the window again as he leans in.

This kiss is much slower and much less desperate than the last one. Unlike last time, Kyungsoo is the one who moves forward, and Baekhyun makes a small noise of surprise before he kisses him back. 

Kyungsoo finds that every time he’s with Baekhyun he can’t seem to think about the consequences. He gets too wrapped up in Baekhyun’s eyes, his smile, his voice. And who can blame him when he’s getting kissed the way he is?

When they pull away, Kyungsoo doesn’t move back, instead grabbing onto the hand Baekhyun has on his cheek.

“No one could know,” Kyungsoo says reminding Baekhyun of the situation they’re in, but Baekhyun is looking at him with stars in his eyes.

“But do you want me?”

Kyungsoo actually gives an incredulous laugh at that. “Let me explain it to you again.” Baekhyun actually looks like he’s waiting for an explanation when Kyungsoo leans in again, and Baekhyun laughs sweetly against his lips when he realizes what he means.

Unfortunately, they have to spend the rest of the day running a few last errands for Baekbeom before he comes back and they have to split up. When Kyungsoo gets back from restocking the shaving cream, he hears the shower running. Baekhyun must’ve come back earlier. Taking off his coat, Kyungsoo rummages through the fridge to find some vegetables and he pulls noodles out of the cupboard. As he works, he begins singing to himself. He remembers that right before he appeared here he was supposed to go to a noraebang with Taehyung, and he feels a pang of sadness thinking about his friend.

As he thinks, Baekhyun comes up from behind and hums along to Kyungsoo’s singing. Kyungsoo stops immediately and turns around to see Baekhyun drying his hair and pouting.

“Why’d you stop? I liked it.”

“Liked what?” Kyungsoo asks watching Baekhyun shake his head to get rid of some excess water.

“Your voice,” Baekhyun says as he lets the towel hang around his shoulders.

Kyungsoo shrugs his shoulders and turns back to the pot.

He feels Baekhyun throw his arms around him and he grumbles. “What?”

“Sing for me,” Baekhyun says. Kyungsoo can feel his wet hair getting his shoulder wet.

“I don’t sing,” Kyungsoo says as he tries to push Baekhyun off of himself.

“I just heard you!” Baekhyun says with a laugh.

“Well, you must’ve heard wrong,” Kyungsoo says as he wishes the water would boil faster.

“Okay,” Baekhyun says in a teasing voice, letting Kyungsoo know he’s letting it go for now. “But Kyungsoo.”

“No, I’m not singing,” Kyungsoo says, but Baekhyun laughs and nudges him so that he turns around.

“That’s not what I was going to say.” One of his hands snakes around to the small of Kyungsoo’s back and he pulls him closer.

“What were you going to say?” Kyungsoo says as he holds onto Baekhyun’s shoulder to steady himself.

“Actually, I wasn’t going to say anything. I just wanted to kiss you,” Baekhyun says straightforwardly and he laughs when Kyungsoo turns a little red.

“Why aren’t you kissing me then?”

Baekhyun pretends to think about it for a second before he laughs and slots their lips together.

“Do you know how long I’ve wanted to kiss you?” Baekhyun asks when they pull away.

“Probably not as long as I have,” Kyungsoo says and he laughs at the delighted look on Baekhyun’s face.

A week later, Baekbeom comes back with the rest of his family and Kyungsoo belatedly realizes he forgot to give Baekhyun his present from Baekbeom.

“Where’s mine?” Baekhyun asks as he watches Sohyun, Sojin and baby Soyoung open the two boxes up. Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and he shoots Baekbeom a panicked look. 

“It-” Baekbeom pauses and looks from Kyungsoo to the boxes. “Did you not get yours?”

“No, I didn’t,” Baekhyun says frowning childishly.

“I’ll give it to him later,” Kyungsoo says quickly. Baekbeom laughs when he sees Kyungsoo’s apologetic expression and Baekhyun’s disappointed one.

“Sounds good.”

Later, Kyungsoo grabs the large cardboard box and drops it in front of Baekhyun. “I’m sorry. It completely flew from my mind.”

“How?” Baekhyun says upset, but the glint in his eyes says something else.

“It’s just,” Kyungsoo struggles to find words for a second. “You were distracting me the entire time!”

“You’re blaming me on the fact that you forgot something?” Baekhyun puts on an affronted expression and Kyungsoo glares at him.

“You wouldn’t let go of me for more than ten minutes. I don’t even know what my room looks like anymore.” Kyungsoo sighs and concedes when Baekhyun continues to look at him disappointedly. “What do you want?”

“Well, I already got a present from you,” Baekhyun says tapping his fingers on his thigh and Kyungsoo looks up confused. 

“What?” Kyungsoo realizes what Baekhyun’s talking about. “No, don’t answer tha-”

“I got you,” Baekhyun laughs as Kyungsoo groans and looks away blushing.

“Where do you get these lines from?” Kyungsoo asks hiding his face behind his hands. “Anyway, I’ll do something for you. To make it up for you.”

Baekhyun opens his mouth to ask, but Kyungsoo interrupts him. “Don’t ask what. It’s a surprise.”

Baekhyun nods and reaches forward to open the box. When he sees the supplies inside, his face lights up.

“He always outdoes himself every year,” Baekhyun says with a fond smile as he begins pulling the books and dried up bundles of lavender. Kyungsoo grins as he watches Baekhyun pull everything out and admire each object. Pulling one of the bundles of lavender out he hands it to Kyungsoo. “These last years when you store them properly. Here.”

Kyungsoo takes it from him and brings the bundle up to his nose. The smell is so much more potent. Kyungsoo ends up coughing and holding the bundle away from his face. Baekhyun pats his back comfortingly, but his laughs make Kyungsoo shove him in the shoulder.

“That’s really strong.”

“Yes, it is,” Baekhyun says pulling Kyungsoo down to sit next to him as he goes through the rest of the things.

The next day, Kyungsoo takes a deep breath as he waits for Baekhyun to get back home. The shop is open until seven today, but he hopes Baekhyun comes later than that. He had warned Baekbeom about what he was going to do before hand, but his nerves are fried as he looks around the semi filled shop.

At 6:45, Baekhyun walks into the shop and Kyungsoo’s stomach drops. Taking the microphone from Baekbeom, Kyungsoo closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. There are only three people left getting their hair done, and Kyungsoo had already promised himself he wouldn’t back out of this no matter what. He’s really regretting that now.

“Hi, it’s been awhile,” Kyungsoo starts off. Baekhyun stops in his tracks. “There’s no question mark in your voice, it’s so you.”

“As if it’s a rule, your seat’s always the same, by the cold entrance.” A slow smile spreads across Baekhyun’s face and one of the ajhummas gives a little squeal. “Make sure you eat well, because it’ll all pass.”

He, regretfully, turns to sing to one of the ladies in the chair, but he knows that Baekhyun knows it’s for him.

“I really mean it. You have the right to be happier. Don’t say those words, please. You know those words hurt me even more. You say you’re going to love me, what use is it?” For some reason a crowd of people has come to stop outside the shop. When Kyungsoo turns to Baekbeom questioningly Baekbeom turns away awkwardly.

“You don’t know what kind of heart you gave me.” The door rings, signaling the arrival of another customer. “As much as you were lonely, I really hope you meet someone who will love you more than you.” It’s Taeyeon. “I’m sorry that she’s not me. It’s not easy to give.”

He stops there and he can’t look her in the eye as everyone, including her, begins clapping.

“I didn’t know you could sing,” Taeyeon says in a teasing voice. “That was beautiful. What song is that?”

“It’s by IU-” Kyungsoo stops when he sees Taeyeon nod and think about the name.

“I’ve never heard of him before, but I’ll be sure to look into them.”

“No, I wrote it,” Kyungsoo says quickly, because IU doesn’t exist yet. He can’t believe he forgot.

“You wrote it?” Baekhyun says from behind him in amazement, and Kyungsoo remembers they’re in a room full of people and there are even some coming into the shop saying, “Encore!”

“I-” Kyungsoo looks to Baekbeom helplessly and he gets the message. 

“He’s a great singer, right? But you do work here, so I need you to get me some clean towels.” Kyungsoo nods and get moving immediately, never mind the fact that it’s almost closing time and they don’t need anymore.

Baekhyun follows him, but Taeyeon does too.

“You have a beautiful voice,” Taeyeon says smiling sweetly, and Kyungsoo sees Baekhyun’s eyes widen.

“Noona, what are you doing here so late at night?” Baekhyun asks, stepping between the two of them as they go to the back kitchen.

“I was passing by and I heard someone singing from the speakers outside.”

“The what?” Kyungsoo asks abruptly. 

“The speakers outside…” Taeyeon sees Kyungsoo’s uncomfortable expression. “Were you not aware? They were playing throughout the block.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widen even more as he blinks a few times. “My brother hooked the speaker system up?”

“I think,” Taeyeon says as she watches the two curiously. “Are you two alright?”

“I-I wasn’t aware,” Kyungsoo manages to get out. “I need to go upstairs and…” He turns before he finishes, reminding himself to talk to Baekbeom later.

A few minutes later, Baekhyun comes up to sit next to him. “Was that your present?”

Kyungsoo looks up, no longer deep in thought. “Yeah, since you wanted to hear me sing, I thought that would work.”

Baekhyun grins and tugs him closer. “I was kidding, but I’m glad you took that request seriously.”

Kyungsoo laughs and allows Baekhyun to kiss him all the way to the sheets of his bed. Luckily Baekhyun’s bedroom is directly above an empty room on the second floor, otherwise they’d both have to be a lot quieter than they were.

When Baekhyun falls asleep, Kyungsoo stares back up at the ceiling and unable to get Taeyeon out of his head. He hadn’t seen her in the week after New Year’s, and it had made it easy to forget that he was pulling Baekhyun away from her. But seeing her now, Kyungsoo feels incredibly guilty.

He gets up, pulling on a shirt and walks to his own room. There’s not a lot of light outside, but Kyungsoo can see the gleam of the moon bouncing off of the snow. As he looks out, a sudden gust of wind makes his window rattle from the force. When he jumps back, he suddenly feels a familiar white hot pain run through his head.

_You don’t belong here._

That stupid voice again, and this time he can see Chanyeol looking back at him as they walk home. Taehyung is pulling another boy alongside him and _is that Jungkook?_

Before he can see anything else, the pain disappears. He’s on the ground gripping onto the windowsill. He stays there for a while as he tries to chase the pain he felt earlier. What is this? Is he seeing premonitions or something?

Kyungsoo lets out a frustrated sigh and holds his head in his hands. Is he going crazy? When he gets up to go back to Baekhyun’s room, he sees the bundle of lavender Baekhyun had given him earlier. He takes it and brings it up to his nose, a bit farther away compared to last time, and takes a whiff. The smell calms him down and the phantom pain lingering in his head disappears immediately.

Thankful the ringing in his ears has stopped, Kyungsoo goes back to Baekhyun and eventually falls asleep again.

~

More time passes and it’s already summer again. A whole year seems like nothing now that Kyungsoo has become familiar with the time and place. He no longer hovers between guilt and happiness, instead, settling for contentment. Taeyeon’s appearance gives him the slightest twist of guilt, but if he can’t have Baekhyun then what can he have?

As the days pass, the headaches become more frequent. It started out random, but now it’s monthly. The only thing Kyungsoo can do is grab that small bundle of lavender and keep it near him. There isn’t anything else that can help him. It never happens when there were other people around, which Kyungsoo is thankful for, but he isn’t sure if that’s why the headaches appear. And there’s also that voice.

It almost sounds like his own, expect every once in a while it says something that Kyungsoo would never think of, like talking about that cat he sees milling around sometimes.

_It’s the cutest cat in the world. The absolute cutest. You wish you could have a cat like mine._

Kyungsoo had tried talking to the cat a few times after that, but nothing came of it, except for a reevaluation of his sanity. The comments are random and uncalled for and Kyungsoo would truly think that he’s losing his mind except for the fact that he has time traveled, so another person in his head is nothing.

There’s also something else bothering Kyungsoo. Baekhyun has become familiar to him. Everything about him has become so natural and ingrained in him, but sometimes the light will catch him just right and Kyungsoo can see someone else in him. He can’t pinpoint exactly who it is but it makes him feel inexplicable sadness and longing and he wishes it would stop.

He’s also been visiting the skate park much more often. Most of the time he chats with Minseok, who has become one of his favorite hyungs, but sometimes he’ll watch Jungkook from inside the store.

“Is he adapting well?” Kyungsoo asks one day.

“Who? Jungkook?” Minseok asks as they both watch him skateboard by himself.

“Yeah.”

“The kid is really shy, but he’s a hardworker.” Minseok sighs as they watch him trip a little. “He doesn’t get along with the kids here. I don’t know who’s offending who, but he’s in some feud.” Minseok points to a kid on the side. Their hair is gelled up into a mohawk and he’s laughing with a girl with a buzzcut. “Taemin. He’s the one who brought Jungkook here. He’s also the one Jungkook has trouble with.”

Kyungsoo nods and watches them for a bit longer. “When did Jungkook come here?” 

“I think at the end of June. Apparently he was wandering around for at least a week before Taemin found him.”

“Must’ve been tough.”

Minseok pops open a bag of chips and agrees. “He was wearing some weird clothes and his hair was really long. Couldn’t understand what he was saying either. Everyone thought that he was an alien or some shit.”

Kyungsoo walks back that afternoon with a heavy feeling in his heart.

“Baekhyun,” he starts, and Baekhyun looks up from his book with a wide-eyed, expectant expression. “If you had to choose between a your life or a person, what would you choose?”

Baekhyun’s eyebrows furrow and he looks at Kyungsoo confused. “What do you mean?”

“Something like… if you had to choose between me or your life, what would you choose?”

Baekhyun thinks about the question for a long moment. “You’re part of my life, so wouldn’t I choose my life?”

Kyungsoo shakes his head and leans in over the kitchen table. “If you had to choose between only me or your life but without me, what would you choose? Your brother, Sohyun noona, Sojin, Soyoung, all gone, your job is gone, everything but me.”

Baekhyun props a hand up and rubs his chin. and Kyungsoo is relieved to see that Baekhyun is taking his question seriously. After another long moment, Baekhyun finally answers, “I would choose you.”

Baekhyun gives Kyungsoo a sweet smile. “Even though it’d be hard, I can imagine a life without the rest of my family. They’d do fine without me. You on the other hand…” Baekhyun reaches up to wipe an eyelash off of Kyungsoo’s cheek. “I don’t know what I’d do. I don’t know what you’d do either.”

Kyungsoo knows that he’s hopelessly infatuated with Baekhyun, but this moment solidifies it for him.

“What would you choose?” Baekhyun asks withdrawing his hand, and Kyungsoo wants to pull it back.

“I would choose you too.” 

Baekhyun makes a face. “You aren’t just saying that because I said you, are you?”

“No,” Kyungsoo says and he means it. “Before you, I felt like there wasn’t much to… look forward to. Now I’m working at a barber’s shop, mooching off your family, but I’ve never felt happier.”

Baekhyun’s bright smile makes Kyungsoo’s heart skip a beat and he realizes that he’s made his decision for himself.

~

Kyungsoo’s gotten his hair cut twice. Once by Baekbeom and once by Sohyun. Both times the haircut turned out fine, but now he was going to get a haircut by Baekhyun and he was wary, to say the least. As Baekhyun hums and runs a razor along the sides of his head, Kyungsoo remembers the harabeoji’s story about that time he messed up his significant other’s hair. He crosses his fingers and hopes that won’t happen to him.

Just as he thinks this he hears Baekhyun say, “Oops.”

“What?” Kyungsoo asks looking at the mirror. Baekhyun is holding the razor up and looking at the back of Kyungsoo’s head cringing. “What?” he repeats.

“I…I may or may not have messed up.” Kyungsoo makes eye contact with Baekhyun through the mirror.

“What do you mean messed up?” Kyungsoo asks in a deadly calm voice.

Baekbeom walks by just then and drops his tray of scissors. “Baekhyun! What did you do?”

Kyungsoo closes his eyes and sighs. Lifting his hand up he goes to feel the back of his head, but Baekhyun grabs his hand and laces their fingers together. “I can fix it. Just give me a second. I swear I can fix it.”

Baekbeom takes a closer look at the back of Kyungsoo’s head. “It is in the back…”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun says in a falsely cheery voice and squeezes Kyungsoo’s hand before letting go quickly. There were people here after all. “I can do it.”

Kyungsoo gives Baekhyun a long look before he finally nods. “Fine, fix it.”

Fifteen minutes later, Baekhyun announces, “Done!”

Baekbeom is walking by with another tray of supplies when he drops this one as well. Kyungsoo can’t blame him.

“Baekhyun, what the hell is this.” Kyungsoo isn’t even asking. 

“Baekhyun, what-what did you-this-” Baekbeom has his hands hovering around Kyungsoo’s head and he looks like he’s about to cry. “How did you even-?”

Kyungsoo stares at the haircut. Everything has been cut too close and it makes him look like he has an egg for a head.

“I’m so sorry, Soo,” Baekhyun says, but he looks like he’s trying not to laugh.

“Yah,” Kyungsoo says as he turns to grab Baekhyun by the arm. “Fix this.”

Baekbeom is still staring at his head, gaping like a fish.

“I don’t…” Baekhyun turns to his hyung. “Can you fix this?”

Baekbeom shakes his head dazedly. “I don’t know how you messed it up so much.”

Kyungsoo stares at his reflection and internally screams. On the outside, he says, “It’s fine. I won’t need to get a haircut for a good six months now.”

Baekhyun nods frantically. “Yeah, six months. And your hair is still really soft.” Baekhyun pats his head awkwardly.

“That’s like saying my eyes can still see,” Kyungsoo says in a dead voice. “I’m just going to go up and sleep.”

He takes off the plastic cover and drapes it over the back of the chair.

“But it’s only noon,” Baekhyun says after him.

“Exactly,” says Kyungsoo as he trudges up the stairs. When he reaches the second floor, Sohyun gasps and the spoon misses Soyoung’s mouth entirely, instead ending up on his chest.

“Kyungsoo, what happened?” Sojin looks up at her mother’s exclamation and bursts out laughing when she sees Kyungsoo.

“Oppa, can I touch your head?” she asks in excitement.

“Yes,” Kyungsoo says defeatedly as she immediately begins patting it and laughing. “Baekhyun tried to cut my hair,” he says to Sohyun.

Her expression turns into one of pity. “I see.”

Baekhyun comes up a few minutes later looking dejected and is surprised to see Kyungsoo getting his hair petted by Sojin.

“Baekhyun, please, don’t ever do anyone’s hair again,” Sohyun says as she picks up Soyoung to burp him.

Baekhyun nods sheepishly. “I won’t, noona.”

Kyungsoo gets up and gently taking Sojin’s hands off his head and goes upstairs, gesturing for Baekhyun to follow him. Baekhyun obediently trails after him and whispers to Sojin, “Pray that your samcheon will still be alive after this.”

Sojin nods seriously and immediately turns around to do so. Sohyun rolls her eyes at his antics and continues bouncing the baby up and down.

When they get upstairs, Baekhyun grabs Kyungsoo by the waist and pushes him up against the wall to kiss him. Kyungsoo reciprocates, although very confusedly.

“What was that for?” Kyungsoo asks when Baekhyun pulls away with a hopeful look on his face.

“Oh, nothing,” Baekhyun says, but he keeps looking Kyungsoo in the eyes like he’s wishing for something.

“You didn’t think that was going to make me forget what you just did, did you?” Kyungsoo says as he wraps his arms around the back of Baekhyun’s neck.

“Ah,” Baekhyun laughs, but he sees an embarrassed look on his face. “No, no of course not.” But then he brings Kyungsoo in for another kiss. “But sometimes you forget things when I kiss you.”

Kyungsoo laughs disbelievingly at Baekhyun’s logic. “You can make me forget now, but I’m going to see it again when I look at myself in the mirror. And everyone else can see it.”

“It’s okay. I can just hide you here until your hair grows back,” Baekhyun says with a mischievous grin and he kisses him again. Kyungsoo sighs into the kiss because he knows Baekhyun’s won this time.

~

_You don’t belong here._

“I will,” says Kyungsoo. It’s 3 AM and he’s standing under the shower trying to wash away his latest nightmare.

This time he was walking with Sojin in the park, when a cat distracted her and she walked away. In her place, Jungkook sat down wearing an odd ensemble of clothes. He looked like he came straight out of one of those historical dramas Namjoon secretly likes to watch, with his bright silk garbs and long hair. Kyungsoo felt a strong sense of camaraderie with him as they walked throughout the park. 

“You know there are consequences for staying,” Jungkook had said as he looked at him with those sad sad eyes. “Time works just the same whether you’re there are not. You could change Baekhyun’s entire course of life. The ripples could be life threatening.”

“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Your mother, your father are much closer than you think. One thing gone wrong and they’ll never meet.” Kyungsoo had understood the threat.

“What? I won’t get born?” Jungkook just shrugged his shoulders and sat down on a metal bench. Only then did Kyungsoo realize they were in modern day Busan.

“If the gods are feeling kind, you may get what you want.” Jungkook looked up. “But that takes a special kind of power.”

When he tried to ask Jungkook what he meant the entire world had turned upside down and he was swallowed up by the sun.

He stands underneath the shower for far too long and by the time he gets out it’s almost four. Baekhyun is still in bed sleeping, but Kyungsoo doesn’t think he can fall back asleep. Pulling on a light sweater and shoes, Kyungsoo quietly sneaks out of the building.

As he walks around the town, he realizes how used to it he’s become. He could close his eyes and get to the stores he frequents. If he turned right on this street he’d get to that bookshop that he and Baekhyun always spend hours in. If he goes straight ahead he’d reach the train station he got rejected at on the first day. If he turns left he’d get to the ice cream shop Sojin always drags him to. He decides to go to the skate park.

There are only a few people out this early in the morning. Most of them are out to enjoy the town before people fill it up and it gets loud. Kyungsoo passes a few old couples who nod their heads at him. He’s pleased to see that he recognizes quite a few of them. As he walks he thinks of the cat who keeps showing up in his dreams. He no longer thinks that that’s a coincidence. Maybe he can ask it how to get rid of his headaches.

He finally reaches the park and, for some reason, is unsurprised to see Jungkook sitting at one of the benches hunched over.

“Good morning,” Kyungsoo says as he approaches Jungkook. Jungkook looks up unprepared and Kyungsoo can see tears in his eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Do Kyungsoo,” Jungkook breathes out and a tear rolls down his cheek. He doesn’t bother to wipe it away as he stares at Kyungsoo with familiarity. “We were talking a few hours ago.”

“W-were we?” Kyungsoo asks unsettled by Jungkook’s calm demeanor despite the tears.

“In your Busan,” Jungkook says as he ducks his head down to blink away the tears, a little shy. 

“In my Busan,” Kyungsoo repeats slowly.

“It’s very tall and metallic,” says Jungkook as his voice gets progressively smaller. “Was I mistaken?” He shrinks in embarrassment.

“It-” Kyungsoo stops before he can scare Jungkook further. It dawns on him what Jungkook was talking about. “When we were dreaming?”

Jungkook looks up and nods. “When we were dreaming.”

“But…that’s not rea-” Kyungsoo stares at him in confusion. “Why would you think that?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Jungkook says and his expression changes as he looks at Kyungsoo pleadingly. “You should talk with the person who brought us here.”

“How?” Kyungsoo asks. His head is beginning to hurt again, but it isn’t as sudden as it usually is. Instead, the pain is pulsing in his head, not enough to distract him from what Jungkook is saying, but enough for him to need to sit down. “What do you mean brought me here?”

Jungkook has that calm expression on his face again as he moves a little closer to where Kyungsoo’s sitting. “Do Kyungsoo, we’ve met in a _dream_. I’ve seen your world and it’s nothing like this one. Neither of us belong here.”

There’s that warning of belonging again. Kyungsoo looks at Jungkook’s expression, his posture. There’s a guarded, wary air about him, and Kyungsoo only realizes then how lonely he must be. Constantly in fights with no one to help him, his experience here must’ve been far worse than Kyungsoo’s. 

“What do you want me to do about that?” Kyungsoo asks as they sit side by side. There are a few kids who are here ridiculously early and their laughs break through the morning quiet.

“Meet him. He’s not a bad person, but I can’t leave until he talks to you. For some reason.” Jungkook sighs a little, and when Kyungsoo doesn’t answer he gets up and kneels in front of him.

“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo asks in surprise as he also bends down with him so that they’re both kneeling on the ground. “Get up, Jungkook.” He attempts to pull him up but the younger is much stronger than he is and stays kneeling with his head bowed down.

“Please, I can’t stay here.” Kyungsoo’s still trying to pull him up, but Jungkook just lowers his head even more. “I need to go home. I keep appearing in my royal garb and I have to keep adjusting my accent, the way I talk. I can’t do it anymore. He said that if you talked to him the next jump would be my last one.”

As Jungkook talks, he continues to go lower and lower until his nose is touching the ground. Kyungsoo, in a panic, mirrors him and lowers himself as well until they’re both facing each other, noses touching the ground.

“I’ve jumped four times and I can’t do anymore,” Jungkook finishes as Kyungsoo can hear a few murmurs from the park. The kids are probably wondering what’s going on.

Kyungsoo’s nose is cold as the tip of it touches the concrete until he realizes what Jungkook just said. “Wait, four?” He picks his head up, scraping his nose a little, and Jungkook slightly lifts his as well.

“Yes, four.”

“You’ve done this four times?” Kyungsoo is no longer paying attention to the kids whispering about them, instead studying Jungkook’s features in shock. “Why?”

“I’d like to know why as well,” Jungkook says, finally sitting up. “Please, please, I need you to leave. Just talk to him. He’s the man with the impossible hair. It’s white.”

“Okay,” Kyungsoo says as he backs away trying to process what Jungkook just told him. “I’ll…do that.”

Before Jungkook can say anything else, he hurries away.

The man with the white hair... The man with the cat. The man who pulled him out of the way of the incoming car. 

The man who pulled him here.

As he walks back, Kyungsoo knows that he can’t avoid this. Jungkook was exactly who he thought he was. The rest of the week passes by in a blur and Kyungsoo can only think of when, or if, he should return to the skate park.

He finally knows he needs to when he wakes up again one night. He turns in bed, but Baekhyun isn’t there. Just as he realizes this, the pain sets in again and Kyungsoo can only grip the sheets and close his eyes, hoping for it to end quickly or reveal something to him.

_One more year. Then it’ll be up to me._

Kyungsoo gasps, opening his eyes even with the pain, but the voice disappears and he’s left reeling. Baekhyun comes in just then and sees Kyungsoo sitting up in the bed hands clenching and unclenching.

“Soo, what’s wrong? Did you have another dream?” 

Kyungsoo shakes his head and then nods. Desperately, Kyungsoo reaches a hand out to Baekhyun and Baekhyun rushes forward to hold him.

“It’s okay. I’m here,” Baekhyun says soothingly as Kyungsoo begins crying into his shoulder.

Kyungsoo tucks his head more firmly into Baekhyun’s shoulder and feels a little better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song was IU's [ Ending Scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh5ok0ljrzA). It's kind of the reason this whole fic exists...
> 
> As always, feedback is appreciated (^ｰ^)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done and I think I've lost a part of my soul. I made some minor changes last chapter, so some information has been moved to this one instead, you don't need to read back though. Also, unbeta'd, so there are probably over five thousand errors.
> 
> I need a second.

A month passes and Kyungsoo can’t stop thinking about Jungkook and the helpless look he gave him. He’s avoided the skate park for the past few weeks, but the warning he got right after still rings in his head as well. There’s an overall feeling of urgency and Kyungsoo can feel himself pushing it onto Baekhyun as well. Not that Baekhyun minds.

Kyungsoo hasn’t ever considered kissing to be as intimate as people make it out to be, but the more he kisses Baekhyun the more he realizes why. It makes him feel like everything’s alright and after everything that’s happened, he needs that. Kyungsoo can’t seem to get enough of it. Baekhyun is no longer surprised when he gets pushed up against the wall for another kiss before he leaves for work or when he gets pulled away from the dinner table quickly to kiss Kyungsoo up against his desk.

It’s fine, Kyungsoo tells himself. He’s fine. Everything’s fine. But he feels like a ticking time bomb and his headaches don’t make anything any better. To distract himself, he’s began to write in his free time, like when the store’s having a slow day or when it closes and Baekhyun isn’t home yet. His blue college-rule notebook is halfway filled and Baekhyun even asks about it a few times, always teasing Kyungsoo and asking him if he can read it.

“I’m a journalist. I can definitely help,” Baekhyun says trying to read the notebook, but Kyungsoo pushes his head away and shakes his head.

“You can proofread it and comment on it when I’m done.” Baekhyun pouts and prods Kyungsoo’s side.

“But that’s a lot of words, and I can help you. Tell you which direction the story should go or just give you feedback. Soo, just one page?” He pokes Kyungsoo some more until he answers.

“No.” Kyungsoo pushes Baekhyun’s finger away and Baekhyun sighs and flops down on his side. The couch creaks under his weight and Kyungsoo laughs at Baekhyun’s dejected expression, putting the notebook down. “I’m just not sure about it.”

“Well, I can help you be sure of it,” Baekhyun says, a grin slowly appearing on his face as Kyungsoo moves closer and closer to him. “You’ll be so sure of it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t show it to me earlier.” Kyungsoo’s laughs and falls on top of Baekhyun, pressing his body against Baekhyun’s side.

“I think I’ll wait until I’m finished.” Baekhyun turns to lay on his back, about to protest, but he’s stopped when Kyungsoo kisses him.

“Fine,” Baekhyun says against Kyungsoo’s lips and laughs. 

~

It’s September when Kyungsoo finally goes to see Jungkook again. Nearly three months have passed and he knows he shouldn’t hold it off any longer. He takes the day off and sits at the kitchen table with Baekhyun until he goes off for work.

As he walks to the park, Kyungsoo can’t stop thinking about Baekhyun. Before him, there wasn’t much that Kyungsoo could really say he cared about. His friends had each other, his family didn’t need him like he needed them. In fact, that was the sum of pretty much all of his relationships, but now that he has to face the person who brought him here there’s a type of fear that he’s never felt before. The fear of losing something. 

When he makes it to the park, he can see Jungkook and Minseok inside the shop and Kyungsoo looks away from it, instead looking to the skateboarders. There are also some people walking their dogs or reading the newspaper on the benches around the park. It’s a nice park if you’re into concrete jungles.

Kyungsoo takes an entire lap around the park as he looks for a white tuft of hair. When he can’t find anyone, Kyungsoo sits down and closes his eyes for a second. Maybe this is fate’s way of telling him that he shouldn’t meet the man.

Just as he thinks this he hears a “hello” and his stomach twists. When he opens his eyes, he comes face to face with a man who has a serious case of resting bitch face and rainbow colored hair instead of white.

“Hi,” Kyungsoo says caught off guard. The man doesn’t smile as he sits down next to Kyungsoo and crosses his legs. 

“Glad you finally came to see me. I was in some serious trouble,” the man sighs, but he gives Kyungsoo a small smile and it transforms his face into something much more human.

“What kind of trouble?” Kyungsoo asks as he looks the man up and down. He’s dressed in a hoodie and converse. There’s a modern air about him.

“I heard that you got a warning. Something about one year?” Kyungsoo’s entire body stiffens when he hears that.

“Yes,” he says carefully. “Who was that?”

“Hm,” the man says as he pulls at his multi colored hair. “I guess you could say that that was my boss.”

“What about all those other voices, whose were those?”

The man scrunches his forehead as he watches a girl land a jump. “Some of them were mine. Some of them were yours.”

Kyungsoo’s somehow unsurprised by this and doesn’t respond. The two of them sit in silence, people watching for a few minutes, until Kyungsoo finally speaks up again.

“I have less than a year left?”

“Yes. Until June twentieth.” The answer is immediate, no hesitation, and it makes Kyungsoo want to cry again.

“Why can’t I stay?”

The man laces his fingers together and looks down at them, looking much sadder than before. “You’ve been having headaches, right?”

Kyungsoo nods, not liking where this is going.

“They’re a result of traveling back in time. Your body can’t handle existing in the wrong time so as it tries to correct everything your headaches will get worse and worse. The only time they won’t bother you is when you’re with Baekhyun because he’s your anchor. The reason you can exist here.”

Kyungsoo begins picking at his nails as he mulls over the information. “So if I just stick with him, I’ll be fine, right?”

The man looks conflicted as he answers. “Yes, but you need him there, physically, all the time. It’s as simple as hand holding, but it’s…”

“It’ll interfere with his everyday life,” Kyungsoo finishes for the man.

“Yes,” he says as he watches Kyungsoo’s expression carefully waiting for some sign of anger or sadness or anything, but instead Kyungsoo is eerily calm.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“It wasn’t my choice,” the man starts. “It’s my job.”

“So,” Kyungsoo says slowly and the man looks down to see one of his nails bleeding as he continues to pick at it. “Your job is to fuck around with people’s lives?”

“No.” The man looks at Kyungsoo’s face uneasily. They’re looking at each other, but Kyungsoo has a blank expression on his face. “It’s to transport people from place to place.”

“And why has Jungkook been to four?”

The man looks increasingly uncomfortable and a drop of blood falls onto the concrete as Kyungsoo breaks more of the skin on his thumb. “Because you’re supposed to keep jumping until you find your person.”

“What does that mean?” Kyungsoo says and his gaze is no longer blank but piercing.

“The person you’re supposed to be with.” The cat Kyungsoo has come to recognize saunters up to his bleeding thumb.

“Like a soulmate?” The cat licks at the wound carefully.

“No, different than that. The person you’re supposed to be with isn’t something that’s prescribed to you the second you come into existence. It’s something that’s built, like a real relationship.” Kyungsoo looks down in surprise when his wound disappears, but the man still looks discomfited. “You need to know them, build a relationship with them.”

“Then when did Baekhyun become my person?” The man seems a little surprised that Kyungsoo’s pieced it together who so quickly, but that blank stare is back and there’s something much darker about it now.

“A few years back.” Kyungsoo can feel a growing sense of horror, and the man is visibly flinching away from Kyungsoo’s expression.

“I knew him before I came here, didn’t I?” Kyungsoo says in a quiet voice, but there’s something terribly sad about the way he says it.

The man’s swallows with some difficulty and nods. “Yes, you did.”

As it clicks, Kyungsoo’s blank expression begins crumbling and he barely keeps the tremor out of his voice.“Why would you do that?” His hands are shaking a little. “Why in the world would you do something like this?”

“I’m sorry,” the man says as he watches Kyungsoo’s expression slowly give way to despair. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“I have to go back and face him, like this?” Kyungsoo says. He’s still been picking at his thumb and the blood is flowing freely from it again. “I go back and I get to see him immediately and he has to wait _sixty fucking years_ to see me again?”

“Kyungsoo-ssi, I’m really sorry about this. I really am. I never would’ve done this if I’d known your past together.”

Kyungsoo isn’t listening any longer as he continues. “Did you know he doesn’t ever get over me? He talks to me _everyday_. He sees me _everyday_.” His voice is getting more and more desperate. “Oh god, how? He sits there and he can only hope that I’ll even take a look at him.”

“Kyungsoo-ssi,” the man tries to say, but Kyungsoo gets up trying to keep it together. 

“How did he live like that?” Kyungsoo’s pointer finger is now bleeding as well. “I’m going to do that to him. I’m going to make him wait for me for-” Kyungsoo bites his lip as he holds in a sob. “I do that to him,” he finishes weakly.

The man looks worried and he reaches out but doesn’t touch Kyungsoo. “Don’t go anywhere.” And then he’s dashing to the shop where Kyungsoo can see him talking to Jungkook. Minseok doesn’t seem to see anything as he continues sitting and watching everyone outside, but Jungkook comes running out with the man.

“Kyungsoo hyung?” Jungkook says as he gently grabs one of his shoulders. Kyungsoo chuckles weakly when he realizes that both the boys are taller and broader than him, but they both look afraid of him.

“Jungkook, you don’t want to jump to your next place,” Kyungsoo says as Jungkook’s eyes widen when he sees the blood flowing down the tips of his fingers. “I won’t help you.”

“You’ll be condemning him to something much worse than headaches,” the man says as he watches Jungkook hurriedly stem the flow of blood with his own shirt. “He needs to reach your friend.”

“My friend?” This time his laugh is delirious. “You want me to do this to a friend?” As he says this he looks down at Jungkook’s hands and his eyes widen. “You want me to do this to Taehyung?”

Jungkook looks up confused. “Who?”

“Your bracelet, it’s…my friend’s.” 

It’s a leather cord tied onto a slim metal cord. There are a bunch of ridiculous beads on it that make it look like a child stringed it together. There’s the familiar smiley face bead and hamburger one that Taehyung nearly broke that one time. Kyungsoo can still see the thin line of super glue holding it together.

Jungkook looks down at his wrist in shock. “It is?”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo breathes out as he blinks a few times, like he can’t believe what he’s seeing. “Where did you get that from?”

“It just keeps reappearing on my wrist every time I try to throw it away. I don’t know how I got it.” 

Kyungsoo is silent for a moment before he finally responds. “That’s not good,” Kyungsoo says quietly and Jungkook feels something wet hit his wrist. 

“Is it raining?” Jungkook says looking up to the sky worriedly, but when he looks back down he realizes that they’re Kyungsoo’s tears. “Hyung, are you alright?”

“I’m going crazy,” Kyungsoo says as he keeps his head down. “I’m going crazy and I don’t know what to do.”

Jungkook bends down lower and lower till he’s in an awkward kneeling position as he tries to get a glimpse of Kyungsoo’s face. “It’s okay, hyung, we can ask him what to do.” Jungkook points behind himself and turns around, but the man is gone, probably scared away by Kyungsoo’s mental breakdown. “Later,” he amends. “We can ask him later. Do you want me to walk you home? You could come into the shop as well.”

“No, I’m good.” Kyungsoo lifts his head up and the only sign that he was crying at all is the pink tinge to his eyes. “I’ll see you later, Jungkook.”

Jungkook nods, but Kyungsoo can see the concern on his face as he leaves the park with a slow walk. He ends up walking around the town for the rest of the day. At one point a woman recognizes him after his third time passing her shop and she bandages up his fingers for him. He almost runs into Taeyeon, but he manages to duck behind a building as she walks past with a few friends.

Kyungsoo walks to the side of town where Baekhyun works and plays around with the idea of going in, but when he walks there he realizes that it’s dark and everyone’s probably already gotten off work by then. When Kyungsoo glances at a passing clock, he sees that he’s right. It’s eight. 

In the back of his mind he knows that Baekhyun is probably worried about him, and that’s what spurs him to make his way back towards the shop. He doesn’t get very far when a panting Baekhyun crashes into him and pulls him into an alleyway.

“Kyungsoo, oh my god. Where were you?” Baekhyun says as he checks over him, out of breath. When he notices the bandages, he carefully grabs Kyungsoo’s hand. “What were you doing for the whole day?”

Kyungsoo can feel his throat close up and he can’t seem to respond as he sees Baekhyun in front of him. It’s different now. Now that he knows what’ll happen, what he’s going to do, Kyungsoo finds himself studying Baekhyun’s features more carefully, appreciating his eyes, the way he holds his hands more.

He slides his hands out of Baekhyun’s to tip his head up so that they’re face to face. There aren’t any people around and they’re in the shadows of an alleyway, but Kyungsoo thinks that he wouldn’t care even if they weren’t as he pulls Baekhyun closer so that they’re almost kissing.

“I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo says and Baekhyun’s breath hitches as he settles his hands on Kyungsoo’s waist.

“It’s alright. Just let me know next time.” His thumbs are tracing circles into Kyungsoo’s skin. “I was worried.”

“Did you run around town looking for me?” Kyungsoo asks with a small smile as Baekhyun looks at him.

“Yes.” He’s not smiling, just concerned, as he leans in. “Kyungsoo, you scared me. You’ve been acting kind of weird lately.”

“Have I been?” Kyungsoo says quietly as he traces Baekhyun’s jawline. “I’ve been a bit tired.”

“Is my brother overworking you? Because I can talk to him,” Baekhyun says as Kyungsoo reaches his nape and begins playing with the ends of his hair.

“No, he’s fair.” Kyungsoo says absentmindedly as he wraps another arm around the small of Baekhyun’s back. Kyungsoo doesn’t want to think about him old and fragile, not when he’s so strong and solid here. “I think I just needed a day off. I’m feeling a lot better now.” It’s a lie, at least it’ll become one, but not right now, not when he puts his head against Baekhyun’s shoulder and takes a deep breath. “I’m fine.”

“If you say so,” Baekhyun says in a relenting tone against Kyungsoo’s hair. “Let’s get back home then.” Kyungsoo nods against his shoulder and finally lets go of Baekhyun, but when he pulls away Baekhyun’s hands linger on his waist a little longer. “You’ll tell me if anything’s wrong, right?”

“I will.” This time Kyungsoo hopes that he’s lying.

~

The headaches are getting worse. Kyungsoo can tell when they’re coming on and one day it happens while he’s helping Baekbeom in the store.

The customer is getting a perm when Kyungsoo drops the towel and tray of sharp instruments. Fortunately, Baekbeom is there checking on her hair when he does and he manages to escort Kyungsoo to the back kitchen before telling him to wait and going back to the front to apologize for the mess. 

Kyungsoo can barely process any of this as he shuts his eyes tightly and puts it against the wood table. He can feel it getting worse and there are no accompanying voices to give him any information so all he can do is clench his fists and grit his teeth as he waits for it to get better.

He can’t take it anymore and stumbles up to get upstairs. He needs to lay down, even if it’s just on the wood floors of Sohyun’s kitchen. Surprisingly, Kyungsoo manages to make it all the way to the attic, nearly falling down the ladder several times, but his clenched fists save him, and he collapses on the ground. As he lays there, he thinks about the time he has left. There’s no specific date, but he suspects it’s around the time he got here, which would be the end of June. It’s November now.

The smell of lavender is strong in the room and Kyungsoo takes a deep breath as he tries to soak it in. It’s relaxing and it has Baekhyun’s smile appearing in his mind, but it also has a rocking chair and the quiet lull of a harabeoji’s voice telling him stories. Kyungsoo doesn’t know how he didn’t connect everything earlier.

He traces the ridges in the wood floor as he thinks about Baekhyun’s eyes and compares them to the old man’s. He closes his own eyes and presses his cheek against the cool ground. When they smile it’s so much easier to see the similarities. The creases at the ends of their eyes, the way their lips tilt up in an almost teasing way. 

But then there’s the way Baekhyun will look at him sometimes. His eyes get hooded as he tilts his head to the side, and Kyungsoo knows that neither of them are going to get out of bed the next morning. He can’t correlate things like that between the two of them and he doesn’t want to. His Baekhyun is different from the future Baekhyun. The old man is different, older, in age and in experience. It's just, he has so much more of both and, Kyungsoo doesn’t know if he could love him the same way he loves Baekhyun now. He doesn’t even think he can look at the harabeoji anymore. Just thinking about him makes Kyungsoo feel helpless and trapped.

The headache is slowly subsiding as the stream of thoughts gets more and more coherent and rushed. Kyungsoo almost wishes the mind numbing pain would come back.

He finally pulls himself together enough to apologize to Baekbeom, but he isn’t having any of it as he orders Kyungsoo to take the rest of the day off. Unable to win the argument, Kyungsoo spends the rest of the day cleaning the attic and occasionally pausing to sag against a piece of furniture, trying to remember why he’s here and trying to push down the familiar hollowness that keeps rising up inside him.

As he wipes down the table for a fifth time, he thinks back to Jungkook’s bracelet and tightens his grip on the rag. Is this supposed to happen all over again? And he’s supposed to take part in it?

Baekhyun comes home to a shining floor and exhausted Kyungsoo. He lays on the couch with an arm over his forehead as he feels the onsets of another headache. Two in one day. It’s definitely getting worse. Baekhyun seems unaware of Kyungsoo’s pain and sits at the edge of the couch to stroke his hair.

“Hey,” he says and as he continues stroking Kyungsoo’s hair, the pain seems to ebb away.

“Hey,” Kyungsoo responds as he moves his arm away to look up at Baekhyun.

“I heard you got a really bad headache today. Are you feeling better?” His voice is low and soothing and it calms Kyungsoo.

“Yeah, I just took a nap,” Kyungsoo says.

“Did you?” Baekhyun looks around the spotless apartment. “Well, you got a lot done during that nap.”

“I took a nap just now. I couldn’t sleep earlier. Cleaning is relaxing,” Kyungsoo says with a grin when Baekhyun looks down rolling his eyes.

“Whatever you say, Soo.” Kyungsoo sits up slowly and reaches up to lift up Baekhyun’s collar. 

“How did you get ink here?” Baekhyun looks down at the blot of ink and gives Kyungsoo a sheepish grin. 

“I loosened my tie and forgot there was ink on my hand.” Kyungsoo laughs quietly and nods.

“I’ll bleach it out tonight.”

“Kyungsoo, you’re alright, right? These headaches, are they chronic?” Baekhyun takes Kyungsoo’s hand off his collar to make sure he’s paying attention.

“Yes, I’m fine. I don’t know about the headaches, but I can handle them. They aren’t that bad.”

Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo carefully as Kyungsoo looks away from his eyes and concentrates on the ink that has spread from his collar to his collarbones.

“If you say so,” Baekhyun says in a voice that tells Kyungsoo he’s only dropping the matter for now.

“What’s happening for New Years?” Kyungsoo asks, trying to change the subject. Baekhyun laughs and lets it go.

“Baekbeom is taking the family out again, I requested to stay home.” The _with you_ is implied.

“Then what are we doing for New Years?” Kyungsoo says as Baekhyun takes off his tie and jacket.

“We could…go for a walk,” Baekhyun says. He tries to think of something else to do as Kyungsoo begins unbuttoning his shirt to take to the sink. “Or I could help you cook dinner.”

“That doesn’t sound like anything out of the ordinary,” Kyungsoo says as Baekhyun helps him pull his sleeves off.

“We could make out in every room of the house,” Baekhyun says as his face lights up.

Kyungsoo scoffs and pushes him over. “That’s weird.”

“Not in every room then. Just places like the living room and the kitchen, public areas.” Baekhyun has a cheeky grin on his face now. “Since we can’t right now.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and gets up with Baekhyun’s shirt in hand. Baekhyun grabs a blanket, a bit cold in just his tank top as Kyungsoo goes to the kitchen sink.

“So are we just going around the house kissing so that all the inanimate objects in the house know that we like each other?”

Baekhyun nods seriously as he trails behind Kyungsoo into the bathroom. “Don’t you want some more…I don’t know, but don’t you want to let loose for a little?”

“Right,” Kyungsoo says feeling a bitter taste at the tip of his tongue. “Because no one can know.”

Baekhyun’s expression grows much more somber, but he puts his chin on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Because no one can know.” Their eyes meet in the mirror and Baekhyun gives Kyungsoo a sad smile.

“Are you really okay with this?” Kyungsoo asks as Taeyeon’s face flashes in his mind. “I wouldn’t be mad if you wanted to give this a break.”

“Don’t say something like that,” Baekhyun says in a much firmer voice. “I don’t.”

Kyungsoo watches Baekhyun looks at him seriously and he returns the expression as he flicks some water in his face. Baekhyun jumps back in surprise and lets out a laugh.

“What was that for?”

“Nothing, you just looked too serious,” Kyungsoo says as he continues scrubbing his shirt. Sighing, Kyungsoo holds the shirt up over the sink. “How did you live before I got here? You probably worked Sohyun noona to the bone.”

Baekhyun gives an embarrassed laugh and shrugs his shoulders. “Well, at least I have you now.”

Kyungsoo feels his heart clench, but he keeps the unimpressed look on his face. “What would you do if I left?”

“Cry?” Baekhyun has a grin on his face, but the way he says it tells Kyungsoo he isn’t joking.

“I’m going to get the bleach from downstairs. Can you warm up some of the leftovers in the fridge?” If Baekhyun hears the shift in Kyungsoo’s tone, he doesn’t say anything about it.

“Yes, I can, but will I?” Baekhyun says as he moves out of the doorway. 

Kyungsoo doesn’t even turn around as he says, “You will.”

There’s laughter behind him as he makes his way down the ladder, and Kyungsoo sighs trying to fight the grin overtaking his face. When he comes back up, Sojin even comments on how happy he looks and Kyungsoo just shakes his head, affectionately ruffling her hair.

When he gets back upstairs, the smell of the leftovers makes Kyungsoo’s mouth water and he grins even more when Baekhyun sits at the table tapping his fingers. He’s staring at the food longingly, but he seems dead set on waiting for Kyungsoo to get back upstairs so they can eat together.

“Hungry?” Kyungsoo asks as he walks to the bathroom again to hang the shirt up over the bathtub.

“You were gone for over ten minutes,” Baekhyun says as he continues tapping his finger on the table.

“I’m not the one who stained your shirt,” Kyungsoo says as he walks to the table, laughing when Baekhyun pouts.

“I should just wear black clothes.”

“Maybe you should.” Kyungsoo looks him up and down. He has a random t-shirt on the hangs off of his frame loosely. Only enough so that Kyungsoo can still appreciate his shoulders. “It’s look good on you.”

Baekhyun laughs and runs a hand through his hair before slurping up noodles. Kyungsoo frowns a little at the lack of response and also begins eating. 

“I’m serious.”

Baekhyun just laughs again.

The second Baekbeom, Sohyun, Sojin, and Soyoung leave to go to the mountains (apparently the fresh air will be good for Soyoung’s frail health), Baekhyun pulls Kyungsoo in for an intense kiss against the family’s kitchen counter, and Kyungsoo can only reciprocate as he struggles to keep his balance.

“Every room of the house?” Kyungsoo asks as Baekhyun gets a glint in his eyes.

“Every room of the house.”

They don’t get to every room of the house. Not because either of them want to stop, but because making out in Sojin’s room is weird and neither of them want to think about that. The shop has windows, but at two in the morning, there’s no one out on the streets to see, so Kyungsoo and Baekhyun end up trying to kiss over high counter. The two of them eventually get annoyed of the height of the counter and Baekhyun literally climbs over it knocking several pens and papers over in the process and Kyungsoo has to break the kiss to laugh. Both of them are completely sober.

They take walks every day, sometimes after breakfast, sometimes at midnight, sometimes for hours. Kyungsoo keeps holding on tighter and tighter to the cold winter, to the private days and nights together. 

On New Year's Eve, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun are sitting on the couch, when Kyungsoo makes a request. 

“Can we not drink?” He looks at Baekhyun with a little laugh. “I just want to be able to remember what happens this time.”

Baekhyun nods and gives him an impish grin. “What’s going to happen this time though?”

Kyungsoo’s poker face comes back and he shrugs his shoulders. “That’s up to you. We could just sit here until midnight.”

Baekhyun grabs the alarm clock and turns it off. “I don’t need to know when the new year comes.” He’s tugging Kyungsoo’s arm like a child now. “All we need to know is that we spent it with each other.”

Kyungsoo laughs as he lets Baekhyun drag him to the bedroom. He doesn’t need to know when either.

~

Winter passes and Kyungsoo finds himself dreading the warmer weather and longer days. Everytime he goes to the skate park to visit Jungkook and Minseok he can only glare at the grass and buds as they slowly grow. Jungkook comments on it a few times when Minseok isn’t there.

“Hyung, do you dislike the flowers?” Jungkook asks when Kyungsoo is helping him restock some supplies while glowering at a potted plant on the cash register counter.

“Yes,” Kyungsoo answers back. “It reminds me that time exists.”

Jungkook’s eyes widen at the vehement response and he can only nod as he silently finishes restocking one shelf. 

“Well, I don’t like them that much either,” Jungkook says after a few minutes of silence. “They bode bad omens.”

Kyungsoo stops his shelving and looks to Jungkook. “What do you mean?”

Jungkook continues shelving, but his movements are slower as he says, “I just have a bad history with them.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t push any further and nods. When Jungkook hands him a pair of scissors to rip open the next box, Kyungsoo takes notice of the bracelet on his wrist once again.

“Do you really not remember where you got the bracelet from?” Kyungsoo asks and Jungkook looks down at it, before shaking his head.

“Do you know when?” Jungkook shakes his head, but stops halfway through.

“Well…” He looks up at Kyungsoo who nods at him encouragingly. “I had a dream one night.”

Kyungsoo nods again when Jungkook hesitates.

“I was in some trouble and I was worried about what to do. One of my friends said that they had a talisman for me and when I woke up the next morning, I had this.”

“Do you know where he got it from?” Jungkook shakes his head.

“My friend was…” Jungkook trails off and Minseok comes in then.

“Kyungsoo, I’m going to have to start paying you if you keep helping out like this,” Minseok says shaking his head as he takes the box from Kyungsoo and ushers him to the set behind the counter. “Jungkook needs the extra work, don’t take it from him.”

Jungkook makes a face as he continues and Minseok takes notice. “Do you not want to help an old man, like me, out?”

“You’re hardly an old man, sir-hyung,” Jungkook awkwardly amends. “Otherwise I would be calling you ahjussi.”

Kyungsoo grins at Minseok’s bewildered expression. “You just talked back to me. Kyungsoo, you saw that, right?”

“Yes, I did,” Kyungsoo says as Jungkook looks more and more worried and fearful.

“We need to…” Minseok drags it out for dramatic effect and Kyungsoo swears he can see Jungkook trembling. “Celebrate!” he walks over and claps Jungkook on the back. “You’re finally growing into the sassy young man I’ve wanted you to be.”

Kyungsoo has to bite down on his sleeve to stifle his laughter as Jungkook’s fearful expression turns confused but pleased.

“Celebrate?” Jungkook repeats weakly as Minseok closes the box.

“Yes, celebrate. I’ll take you two out. We can close up a bit earlier. There’s only about thirty minutes left anyway.” Minseok turns to Kyungsoo. “Are you free?”

“Actually, I was going to have dinner with Baekhyun today,” Kyungsoo says apologetically. Minseok looks unperturbed as he walks over to their large phone. 

“He can join us. He works at the paper, right?” When Kyungsoo nods, Minseok dials the number and hands Kyungsoo the phone. 

“Hello?” The male secretary’s voice is familiar.

“Hello, I’d like to speak with Byun Baekhyun, please.” He sees Jungkook watch him curiously out of the corner of his eye.

“What is the name?” the secretary asks.

“Do Kyungsoo.” Minseok is helping Jungkook pack up the leftover boxes.

A moment later he hears some shuffling noises and then Baekhyun’s voice comes over the phone.

“Kyungsoo? Is something wrong?” Kyungsoo laughs when he hears Baekhyun’s worried voice.

“No, I just wanted to know if you were up to going out to eat today. Minseok invited you.”

“Oh, sure,” Baekhyun says, sounding much more excited now. “Where are we eating?”

“I’m not sure,” Kyungsoo starts and Minseok shouts, “We’ll pick you up.”

“Okay, tell Minseok hyung, thanks,” Baekhyun says and Kyungsoo practically see him grinning. 

In the background, he hears Jongdae go, “No fair! I want to meet this tattooed man!” He yells so loudly that Minseok actually hears this and he looks up interestedly.

“Is someone talking about me?”

Kyungsoo nods and says into the phone, “Tell Jongdae that Minseok hyung can hear him.” He hangs up after Baekhyun relays the message and Jongdae shrieks loudly.

“His friend can come too,” Minseok says with an amused grin. “Jungkook, do you like my tattoos?”

Jungkook looks up from a box and nods slowly. “I like the one on your neck.”

Minseok ruffles his hair and laughs. “Thanks, kid.”

Kyungsoo only notices the piercings then. “Jungkook, did you get your ears pierced?”

A little self-consciously, Jungkook reaches up to touch his ears. “Yes.”

Minseok speaks up. “My friend helped out. There aren’t many people who are willing to do that to a guy. I like them.”

Kyungsoo nods and gives Jungkook a smile. “They suit you, Jungkook.”

A blush spreads across Jungkook’s cheeks and he ducks his head to finish sealing up the boxes that haven’t been done yet, mumbling a quiet, “Thank you.” Minseok and Kyungsoo exchange a grin and Kyungsoo gets up from his chair to help them finish up.

About fifteen minutes later they stand in front of the paper and Kyungsoo checks the time. They’re getting a few nasty looks for Minseok’s get up and Jungkook looks uncomfortable with all the unwanted attention the three of them are getting.

Finally, Baekhyun comes out almost ten minutes later with Jongdae in tow.

“I’m so sorry, we got caught up in a problem,” Baekhyun says as he gives them a bow and drags Jongdae down with him. “Is it alright if he joins?” Jongdae opens his mouth to say something presumably dumb, but both Kyungsoo and Baekhyun slap a hand over his mouth before that can happen. Minseok and Jungkook stare in confusion as Jongdae attempts to make hand gestures instead.

“Yeah, it’s no problem,” Minseok says watching them amusedly. Jungkook looks a little lost as they hold onto Jongdae until he promises them not to speak until they get into the restaurant.

Minseok waves them all in the right direction and Jongdae is silent the entire time, probably because of Kyungsoo’s intimidating glare. When they finally reach the restaurant, they get a more secluded table in the back and Minseok announces that he’s treating everyone out.

“But if you don’t finish everything, you’re all paying for it,” Minseok says with in an intimidating voice while he gives them all a sweet smile. “Eat up!”

Jongdae finally speaks up and Kyungsoo crosses his fingers, hoping that it isn’t something stupid.

“So, those tattoos, where’d you get them?” He says it like one would say a pick up line and Kyungsoo audibly sighs at the wood table. Baekhyun stares at him with a dead look on his face and pats Kyungsoo on the back.

“From a friend,” Minseok says grinning back. “Do you want one?”

“Yes,” Jongdae says with barely contained glee. “I do. On my ass.”

Baekhyun begins shaking his head as Kyungsoo turns to Jungkook who chokes on his water. “Never be like him.”

Jungkook nods obediently trying to catch his breath and Kyungsoo pats him on the back. It’s a circular table and Baekhyun and Jungkook are on either side of Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo regrets not sitting on the other side of Jongdae to block him from Minseok, and Baekhyun doesn’t look like he’s going to anything about it. 

Their meat finally comes out and Jungkook watches in amazement as they begin cooking it right in front of him. 

“Usually the maknae would be doing this, but he’s a little lost,” Minseok says to Baekhyun and Jongdae, and they nod.

“I can do it,” Jungkook says with a determined voice. He’s been watching Kyungsoo for ten minutes now. He politely takes the tongs and scissors from Kyungsoo. 

“Be careful,” Minseok says uneasily as Jongdae watches in curiosity.

Jungkook cuts and cooks the meat perfectly, and Kyungsoo laughs at how happy Jungkook looks when everyone applauds him.

“It’s good,” Baekhyun says with a grin and Jungkook gives a shy dip of the head back.

Jongdae turns out to be a pretty decent conversationalist after he gets over the initial shock of all of Minseok’s tattoos. He likes teasing Kyungsoo, but he seems to find Jungkook even more fun to mess with, especially because he responds with an awkward stutter and keeps his voice down.

When Kyungsoo leaves to go to the bathroom, later in the night, Jungkook follows. The bathroom is only for one person, but Jungkook looks at Kyungsoo with a questioning look and Kyungsoo makes sure no one is looking before letting him in.

“Is that the man?” Jungkook says as Kyungsoo stands in front of the sink facing him. 

“Which one?” Kyungsoo asks.

“The one sitting next to you.”

“Yes, that is,” Kyungsoo answers with a heavy voice.

“I’m sorry,” Jungkook says quietly as he stares down at the grimy bathroom floor. “I’m one of the reasons you have to leave.”

Kyungsoo shakes his head although he suddenly feels the urge to heave. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t ask to be taken away.”

Jungkook doesn’t say anything for a moment before he looks up guiltily. “I did.”

Kyungsoo stares at him confused. “What do you mean?”

“I kept wanting to leave, and after years of wishing, I got taken away.” Jungkook reaches up to tug at his earrings. “If I hadn’t wished that…”

Kyungsoo laughs without humor but shakes his head again. “Everyone wishes they can leave somewhere at some point, you weren’t the one who actually made it happen.”

“He seems to really like you.” It’s stated like one would state a fact and Kyungsoo finds himself grabbing the edge of the grubby sink.

“He does.” They stand in silence for another minute, before Jungkook finally puts a hand on the door handle.

“Sorry, I’ll get back. I just wanted to check,” Jungkook says as he opens the door. Kyungsoo doesn’t answer back as the door closes.

When he gets back, Baekhyun gives him a little raise of the eyebrows, but Kyungsoo just gives him a small shake of the head as he sits back down. The rest of the night passes, ending with Minseok and Jungkook agreeing to lug a drunk Jongdae home. Baekhyun only had two shots of soju, but Kyungsoo found it hard to stop after his conversation in the bathroom, so Baekhyun ends up piggybacking a tipsy Kyungsoo home.

“You’re cute when you’re drunk, but you’re also really heavy,” Baekhyun says with a little laugh. Kyungsoo doesn’t answer as he tightens his arms around Baekhyun’s shoulders and neck. “Please don’t choke me to death.”

Kyungsoo nods a little and down so that he’s eye level with Baekhyun’s ear. It reminds him a bit of a rice cake a narrows his eyes and gives it a little poke. With his tongue.

Baekhyun almost drops him and he struggles not to fall over. “Kyungsoo, what are you doing?” His voice sounds a bit odd, but Kyungsoo only vaguely hears it.

“I was wondering if you tasted like rice cakes. Or maybe tofu.” He gives Baekhyun’s ear another lick and he hears Baekhyun squawk in protest.

“Kyungsoo, could you not do this right now?”

“Then when would I do it?” Kyungsoo says as he narrows in on Baekhyun’s shoulders. “Has anyone ever told you your shoulders are very creamy?”

“Kyungsoo-” Baekhyun has to grab onto a wall and he lets Kyungsoo down. It’s pretty late at night and Baekhyun doesn’t have work tomorrow, so he prods Kyungsoo to get up from off the ground. Baekhyun checks to see if there are any people around. When he sees none, he leans down so that they’re face to face and gives Kyungsoo an amused smile. “Kyungsoo, get up.”

Kyungsoo makes a noise of refusal and Baekhyun takes another look around. “I’ll give you a kiss if you get up.” One of Kyungsoo’s eyes open but he glares at Baekhyun.

“That’s not going to work.”

“Fine, I won’t give you a kiss then, but you need to get up.”

Kyungsoo shakes his head as he tugs in Baekhyun’s collar. “I’ll eat you if you make me move.”

“Resorting to cannibalism?” Baekhyun asks as he laughs. “Come on, Soo. Don’t you want to lay down in a nice warm bed?”

Kyungsoo adamantly shakes his head, hand still on Baekhyun’s collar. “I really thought you’d taste like tofu.”

Baekhyun laughs as Kyungsoo’s fingers curl more tightly around his button up. “What do I taste like then?”

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo says quietly, and even though he smells of alcohol, his next words seem very lucid. “I think I need to try you again.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widen and he takes another look around the street. All the shops are closed and no one is stupid enough to be out at this time.

“If I let you, will you get up and walk home?” Baekhyun asks as Kyungsoo gets a gleam in his eyes.

“Yes.” Baekhyun takes one more look around the area before letting Kyungsoo tug him forward. “I feel like a vampire right now.”

“A vampire?” Baekhyun says in confusion, but he doesn’t get an answer back when Kyungsoo leans in to swipe his tongue across his collarbone. Baekhyun must think that Kyungsoo is done, but he almost falls forward in surprise when he teeth nip at the junction of his neck and he stays there hoping no one can see them as Kyungsoo marks up one side of his neck.

Kyungsoo finally pulls away and licks his lips with a little laugh. Baekhyun’s breath is erratic but he returns a little laugh. “What do I taste like?”

“My favorite,” Kyungsoo says as Baekhyun pulls him up. 

“Your favorite what?”

“Just my favorite.”

When they’re a few blocks away from the shop, Baekhyun’s eyes suddenly widen and a blush creeps up his neck. “I can’t believe we did that.”

Kyungsoo is holding onto Baekhyun’s arm as he groggily looks up. “What?”

“I can’t believe I let you do that out on the street.” There’s a hint of panic, but when Kyungsoo meets Baekhyun’s eyes there’s excitement in them. “Let’s not do that again.”

“I don’t believe you,” Kyungsoo says as they walk up to the dark shop. Baekhyun pulls out his keys, and they go to the back entrance.

“I’m serious.”

“No, you’re not,” Kyungsoo says as he gently pokes Baekhyun’s cheek. “You want me to do it again.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“You can do it to me instead.”

“N-wait what?”

Kyungsoo doesn’t answer as he stumbles up the stairs. Baekhyun locks the door behind them and follows up closely.

“You want me to do that to you?”

“You don’t want to do that to me?” If it weren’t for his lack of coordination, Kyungsoo would’ve come across as sober. Baekhyun doesn’t respond as he pushes Kyungsoo up the ladder, making sure he doesn’t fall down halfway.

When Baekhyun tries to get Kyungsoo to bed, Kyungsoo does an awkward twirl and runs to the bathroom before Baekhyun can stop him. 

“Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun say as he tries opening the door. It’s locked. “Unlock the door.”

“No,” Kyungsoo’s voice sounds muffled as he hears the water begin running. “I need to take a shower.”

Baekhyun sighs as puts his hands on his hips and leans his head on the door. “At least unlock the door. I need to make sure you don’t fall asleep in the middle of it.”

There’s some shuffling and then the door opens by a fraction. Kyungsoo tips his head to the side and Baekhyun pushes the door open. “Kyungsoo, you can take a shower tomorrow morning.” His clothes are plastered to his body and Baekhyun sighs a little when he realizes Kyungsoo tried to take a shower with his clothes on. “Well, at least take your clothes off if you’re going to take a shower.”

Kyungsoo shakes his head as he goes running back into the tub. “My clothes are dirty too.”

“Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun says in an annoyed voice, but there’s a reluctant smile on his face. “You can wash your clothes later. Let’s choose one thing. Clothes or body?”

“Both,” Kyungsoo says in a serious voice as he looks down at his clothes. “It’s cold when I take everything off. This is better.” Kyungsoo knows he’s being childish, somewhere in the back of his mind, but he doesn’t really care when he sees annoyance flit across Baekhyun’s features. It’s amusing.

“Okay,” Baekhyun says slowly and Kyungsoo looks up surprised that he agreed. There’s a brief moment of silence where the only noise is the sound of the water hitting the tub bottom, then suddenly Baekhyun lunges forward to get the shirt off of Kyungsoo. Caught off guard, Kyungsoo wraps his arms around Baekhyun and drags him under the shower head with him. They stand there frozen for a second before Baekhyun groans and put his head against Kyungsoo’s shoulder. 

“I’m never letting you get this drunk again.”

Baekhyun sighs and takes off Kyungsoo’s soggy clothes with no resistance and he trudges out of the bathroom as he slowly takes off his wet clothes too. 

“Hurry up with your shower. I need sleep, Soo.” 

Kyungsoo turns to watch Baekhyun go and looks down. He only has boxers and socks on now. A few minutes later Baekhyun comes back in. 

“Give me the rest of your clothes.” He’s wearing a t-shirt and baggy pants. 

“No.”

“Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun says in a tired voice. There’s still a lingering smile there though. “Please give me your clothes.”

“You should take a shower too,” Kyungsoo says as they stare at each other. The water keeps getting in his eyes and he forgot to turn it up, so he’s shivering a little. Baekhyun watches him and runs a hand through his damp hair.

“Together?”

“To save water,” Kyungsoo says resolutely, and Baekhyun finally walks forward in defeat.

“Come on then,” Baekhyun says as he points at Kyungsoo’s feet and boxers. “I need to take these downstairs. I’ll be back after that.”

Kyungsoo eyes him warily and strips himself of the rest of his clothes. Baekhyun takes the clothes and returns the wary look before reaching over to the knob and turning up the hot water.

“You’re going to get a cold tomorrow.” Before Kyungsoo can respond, he leaves the bathroom.

Kyungsoo stands underneath the showerhead and closes his eyes as it gets warmer and warmer. He likes being drunk, it keeps him from thinking too much. He feels like everything is sluggish and slow. A lot like walking through water. He opens his eyes when he hears Baekhyun come back up and laughs when he trips out of his clothes to join him in the shower.

“Are you always like this when you drink?” Baekhyun asks as Kyungsoo pulls him underneath the spray of water.

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo says as he reaches for the shampoo and squirts some onto his hand. Rubbing the soap between his fingers he begins lathering up Baekhyun’s hair. “I don’t usually drink this much.”

“I can tell,” Baekhyun says as he closes his eyes and tips his head forward to let Kyungsoo reach the top of his head.

They work in silence as Kyungsoo washes Baekhyun, occasionally poking him in the stomach, and Baekhyun does the same for Kyungsoo.

When Kyungsoo scrubbing Baekhyun’s back, which seems annoyingly large when he’s drunk, he says, “Do you think you could hate me?”

Baekhyun tries to turn around, but Kyungsoo keeps a hand on his back as he continues to wash him. He doesn’t want to see his expression.

“Why would I ever hate you?” Baekhyun says in a confused voice as Kyungsoo works his way from shoulder to shoulder.

“I don’t know, but do you think you could ever hate me?”

“Yes.” Kyungsoo’s heart stutters. “But it wouldn’t last very long. Just looking at you makes it hard to be mad.”

“You were pretty close earlier,” Kyungsoo says as he scrubs at a mole on Baekhyun’s back even though he knows it won’t come off.

“No, I just was just having trouble deciding if I wanted to fuck you or not.” Kyungsoo almost drops the bar of soap and Baekhyun laughs quietly. “I decided you were too drunk.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Kyungsoo stops scrubbing when he’s deemed Baekhyun clean and he taps him on the shoulder so that Baekhyun will turn around. When Baekhyun turns around, Kyungsoo goes to turn as well, but Baekhyun grabs him by the arm.

“Why did you ask me if I could hate you?” Kyungsoo is glad there’s water spraying between them so he doesn’t have to look Baekhyun in the eye.

“I just wanted to know.” Baekhyun takes a step forward, forcing Kyungsoo back, so that the water is now hitting his back and suddenly there’s no reason for Kyungsoo to look away from.

“You seem kind of off these days.” Baekhyun is staring at him with those kind, observant eyes and Kyungsoo doesn’t know how long he can stay standing.

“I’m just a little tired.”

“When aren’t you tired?” Baekhyun asks and Kyungsoo doesn’t know how to answer that. “Kyungsoo,” he says in a gentle voice. “Is there something you aren’t telling me?”

Kyungsoo shakes his head and pushes Baekhyun back towards the shower head. “I want to sleep.”

“Okay,” Baekhyun says quietly and Kyungsoo can’t help but wonder if Baekhyun is as afraid of his answer as he is.

~

It’s the beginning of May and Kyungsoo wants to cry. There’s less than two months left and Kyungsoo still hasn’t figured out a way to stay. He doesn’t even know where to start.

Today is Baekhyun’s birthday and Kyungsoo remembers because Sojin wouldn’t stop talking about it the night before. They all go out to celebrate and Baekhyun comes home full and grinning from ear to ear. Breakfast was a treat from Sohyun and lunch was a mess of laughter and flying papers with his coworkers. Kyungsoo laughs when Baekhyun complains about how full he is as he falls into bed, and Baekhyun falls asleep in a matter of minutes. Kyungsoo, surprisingly, also falls asleep quickly, but he realizes why as the night goes on. 

He’s dreaming again, but this time he’s stumbling back home with some random guy sucking on his neck. They’re both wasted and Kyungsoo is struggling to get them to his bedroom, when Taehyung pops his head up from behind the couch.

“Um…” His head goes back down. Chanyeol’s head pops up instead and his eyes widen, comically round.

“Soo…” He watches them for a good minute in shock, before Taehyung’s head pops up next to his.

“Do you think they know they’re in the living room?”

Kyungsoo can hear them, and he stops, clumsily pushing the man off of him.

“Shut up,” he slurs and the guy next to him laughs as he holds onto the arm of the couch to keep himself up.

“Hyung, I’m all for you getting that booty, but could you not do it on the living room carpet?”

Chanyeol nods frantically as the stranger makes a gagging noise. “Holy shit. You are _not_ puking in here.” He shoots up and climbs over the couch, with some trouble despite his long legs, and leads the guy to the bathroom. Kyungsoo watches them with narrowed eyes and turns to Taehyung who has disappeared behind the couch again.

Inside of his body he’s clearheaded, but the memory plays out the way it should, although Kyungsoo is cringing at everything he does.

“It took me a lot of work to get him here. Chanyeol isn’t going to do anything stupid, is he?”

Taehyung’s voice comes out from behind the couch, muffled. “No, he’s just making sure your guy doesn’t ruin our carpet. Hyung, this is the first time I’ve seen you bring someone home. Did something happen?”

“No, I just wanted to do something,” Kyungsoo says and he can hear defeat in his own voice.

“You should do something else, more safe, and more fun, and more sober,” Taehyung says as he a tuft of his hair appears from the top of the couch. “We could go out and go to an amusement park or a regular park or watch a movie or go to the mall. Don’t go out alone, hyung. It’s dangerous.” Kyungsoo hears a huff come from Taehyung as he stands up and Kyungsoo sees his entire body, now slightly covered in dust.

“What are you doing back there?” Kyungsoo asks as they hear retching come from the bathroom layered by Chanyeol’s low voice saying soothing things as he pats the man’s back.

“I lost my bracelet,” Taehyung says as he holds up his wrist. Sure enough, his bracelet is gone. “I thought I lost it in my bedroom, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Have you seen it anywhere?”

“Yes.” Kyungsoo surprises himself and Taehyung with his answer. He’s pretty sure this isn’t how the conversation went. “But you wouldn’t believe me.”

“I’d believe it,” Taehyung says as he opts to shuffle out from behind the couch instead climbing over like Chanyeol did.

“Jungkook has it.” Kyungsoo can feel himself gaining control over his motor functions and he begins walking surefooted to Taehyung.

“Who’s Jungkook?” Taehyung’s eyes widen. “Did you hook up with someone else without telling us?” He gasps dramatically. “Did they steal stuff?”

“No,” Kyungsoo says smiling a little. He forgot how much he missed his friends. “He’s a dongsaeng of mine.”

“Cute,” Taehyung says as Kyungsoo reaches him and pulls him in for a hug. Taehyung hugs him back enthusiastically although he says, “Wow, if I’d known you were this affectionate when you were drunk, I would’ve gone out drinking with you more.”

Kyungsoo lets go of him and glares. “I’m not drunk.”

“Okay,” Taehyung says in a voice that definitely means he doesn’t believe Kyungsoo. “When can this Jungkook give me back my bracelet?”

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo says as he thinks about the month he has left. “What’s the date?”

“May 5,” Taehyung says as he turns to check the clock. “Oh, never mind. It’s May 6.”

Kyungsoo turns to look at the clock. It’s currently one fifteen in the morning. “Why are you still up?”

“I need my bracelet for a test tomorrow. I need all the luck I can get. Not all of us have a stable job,” Taehyung says in a joking voice.

“I have classes too,” Kyungsoo says as he watches the clock, mesmerized by the slow movement of the hands. 

“But you’re a master at getting through your classes. I’m not,” Taehyung says as watches Kyungsoo confused. “Are you drunk _and_ high?”

“No,” Kyungsoo says as he continues to watch the clock intently.

“Then what are you looking at, hyung?”

“Just…” The minute hand is now touching the next notch. Three sixteen. “Time.”

“Maybe you should go sleep this off. I think your guy is too out of it to be helping you with anything,” Taehyung says as he begins dragging Kyungsoo towards his bedroom. As they walk down the hallway, they see Chanyeol giving the man a cup of water to drink in the bathroom. The man looks up at the sound of Taehyung and Kyungsoo’s footsteps and Kyungsoo’s eyes widen as he stares at him.

“Junmyeon hyung?” 

The man grunts a little and looks back at him in confusion. “Do we know each other?” He reaches up to the bridge of his nose and Kyungsoo realizes he’s wearing contacts as he scratches it awkwardly when there aren’t any glasses to push up.

“Kim Junmyeon?” Kyungsoo says staring at Junmyeon in amazement. His vision has grown clearer and clearer, like the alcohol had left his body in a matter of minutes. The similarity to the uptight journalist that Baekhyun liked joking about was striking. Too striking.

“To be honest, I can barely see right now,” Junmyeon says, his words slurring together. “Please tell me we don’t work together.”

“No, we don’t,” Kyungsoo says as Taehyung and Chanyeol give each other confused looks. “What are you doing here?”

Junmyeon rubs his eyes. “Um, am I missing something?”

“No,” Taehyung says as he begins pulling a shocked Kyungsoo to his bedroom. “We aren’t missing anything!”

Chanyeol nods as he leads the man to the front door. “No, we aren’t. Please excuse my friend. He’s weird when he’s drunk.”

Junmyeon scratches the back of his head, very confused. “Okay,” he says slowly.

“I’ll help you get a taxi.” Chanyeol and Junmyeon leave and Kyungsoo can only gape at Junmyeon’s form, before Taehyung blocks his vision. 

“Hyung, someone’s been calling all day. They keep asking for you. Could you get back to them in the morning?”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo says as he looks down at his navy blankets. They look almost foreign to him compared to the flowered quilts on Baekhyun’s bed. “Yeah,” he repeats.

Taehyung lets out an awkward laugh and looks to the door longingly. He probably wants to continue looking for his bracelet.

“Well, time to wake up, hyung.” Taehyung gets up to open the door. “Can’t sleep forever.”

“What?” Kyungsoo says, but Taehyung doesn’t respond as he watches Kyungsoo from the doorway. Slowly, Kyungsoo hears a hum that get louder and louder, and when he looks back up for Taehyung he’s gone. Everything begins falling off his shelves, and suddenly the whole room floods with light.

Kyungsoo leaps out of bed, and right into Baekhyun’s chest, sending them both toppling over. Baekhyun groans underneath him as he rubs the back of his head and Kyungsoo rolls off of him immediately.

“Shit, Baekhyun, are you okay?” Kyungsoo asks as he helps him up.

Baekhyun squeezes Kyungsoo’s hand and nods before falling back onto the bed. “You’re heavy.”

“Thanks,” Kyungsoo says sarcastically as he bends down so that he’s eye level with Baekhyun’s head. “Sorry about that.”

Baekhyun laughs a little and reaches for Kyungsoo’s hand to pull him onto the bed. “It’s okay. I was just trying to wake you up because you were flailing a lot.”

“Hm.” Kyungsoo turns so that he can tuck his head into Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Was I?” It’s the morning and Kyungsoo closes his eyes at the brightness. 

“You were. You kept talking about Junmyeon.” Kyungsoo feels Baekhyun shift so that he can wrap his arms around Kyungsoo. The position presses Kyungsoo’s head into Baekhyun’s chest and he can smell the food they had yesterday with the expected traces of lavender. “I would feel jealous, but you sounded pretty upset saying his name.”

Kyungsoo hums into Baekhyun’s chest and puts an arm around his waist. As Baekhyun hugs him a little tighter, Kyungsoo begins remembering his dream. He chooses not to dwell on it and snuggles into the hug. Tilting his head, Kyungsoo gives Baekhyun a look of surprise when he realizes what the sunlight filtering into the bedroom means.

“Don’t you have work today?”

Baekhyun gives him a grin. “Yes, but I took the day off.”

“Okay,” Kyungsoo says as they look at each other. “Why?”

“Because I wanted to sleep in. I knew we were going to get home late last night. I swear hyung does it on purpose. To keep me out of the office a little longer.” Baekhyun loosens his hold on Kyungsoo so that Kyungsoo can move up a little. Enough so that they’re completely face to face now.

“What time is it?”

“Almost noon.” Baekhyun laughs at Kyungsoo’s surprised expression. “You slept really soundly, but it’s been a slow day so hyung didn’t need any of your help.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo rubs his eyes a little and closes his eyes again, but he feels one of Baekhyun’s come up to prod at his nose and his cheeks. 

“No sleeping. We’re waking up.” Kyungsoo grumbles and pushes his hands off of his face. 

“But I want to sleep.”

“Nope, you’re waking up.” Baekhyun slides his arm out from under Kyungsoo and pulls him up. Kyungsoo just ends up sliding halfway across the bed, refusing to get up. “Soooo,” Baekhyun whines. “I finally got a day off, play with me.”

“What are you? Five?” Baekhyun continues pulling until Kyungsoo’s side hits Baekhyun’s knees which are propped up against the side of the bed. Kyungsoo finally opens his eyes to see Baekhyun pouting at him from above. “I want to sleep.”

“I want you to get up.” Baekhyun continues tugging till Kyungsoo glares at him and swings his legs off the bed. Baekhyun gives a little cheer and follows Kyungsoo to the bathroom. “Let’s go to the town center today,” Baekhyun says as Kyungsoo splashes water onto his face.

“Alright,” Kyungsoo says as he watches Baekhyun from the mirror. He’s shuffling around with a wide smile on his face. “Whatever you want.”

They end up going to each shop there is. They don’t buy anything, but Baekhyun and Kyungsoo explore every shop thoroughly. By the time they’re done, it’s late into the evening and Baekhyun sighs.

“I have work tomorrow.”

Kyungsoo laughs and pokes Baekhyun’s cheek. “Take another day off.”

Baekhyun narrows his eyes and leans into Kyungsoo’s finger. “Should I?”

“Do whatever you want,” Kyungsoo says and Baekhyun seems to seriously debate the idea for a second. 

“No,” Baekhyun says and Kyungsoo is surprised to feel a sense of disappointment rise up inside him. “I’m starting this new story tomorrow and I need to get on top of it.”

Kyungsoo frowns a little and Baekhyun frowns with him. “Did you want me to take another day off?” Baekhyun pokes Kyungsoo’s cheek so that they each have a finger on the other’s face. “Aw, are you going to miss me?”

Kyungsoo glares and turns his head to bite down on Baekhyun’s finger. Not too hard, but enough to alarm Baekhyun. He yelps and jumps back in fear and Kyungsoo laughs a little as they continue walking down the street. They’re almost back at the shop.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” Baekhyun mutters to himself as he checks his finger for marks. “My finger. My poor finger.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and grabs Baekhyun’s elbow, pulling him forward. “Let’s get home birthday boy.”

“That came out of nowhere,” Baekhyun continues muttering to himself as he holds his finger up to Kyungsoo’s face. “Look.”

There’s nothing wrong with his finger and Kyungsoo pretends to bite down on it again to scare Baekhyun.

“Ah!” Baekhyun shouts and Kyungsoo blushes when people turn to see what’s going on.

“I’ll stop. I’ll stop.” Kyungsoo pats Baekhyun on the back awkwardly and bows his head to everyone who’s looking at them. 

“You surprised me,” Baekhyun says as he continues to hold his finger likes it’s going to fall off at any second. Kyungsoo watches Baekhyun fret over his finger and is reminded of the way the harabeoji always talked about him. 

_“I wish he didn’t leave as suddenly as he did. It’s alright though. It couldn’t be helped.”_ He would give Kyungsoo a smile that always made Kyungsoo feel as if he were being placated or forgiven and now he knows why.

“Would you feel better if he had told you ahead of time?” Kyungsoo had asked.

“Yes. I wish he’d told me beforehand. I would’ve understood him no matter what. I already had my suspicions.” The harabeoji turned to face him and Kyungsoo was taken aback by the intensity of his gaze. “If I could go back, I would tell him to tell me everything.”

Kyungsoo’s walk slows as he realizes that it was a very direct request from Baekhyun. He turns to look at Baekhyun still whining about his finger. He has suspicions? Baekhyun looks up just then and gives Kyungsoo a childish pout.

“Why’d you do that?”

“I’m…” Kyungsoo feels like he can’t breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Baekhyun’s expression immediately turns from hurt to confusion and worry. “It’s okay. I was just joking.”

“I’m sorry.” Kyungsoo says again as they reach the store. The lights shine through the window, but it’s closed.

“It’s fine.” Baekhyun holds up his finger and waggles it. “See? Still there.” Kyungsoo looks at Baekhyun with the saddest eyes and Baekhyun looks bewildered. “Soo-ah, it’s fine. I’m okay.”

Kyungsoo turns away abruptly and gestures for Baekhyun to pull out his keys, saying quietly, “Right.”

Baekhyun seems fazed by Kyungsoo’s sudden change in attitude, but he laughs it off and drags Kyungsoo upstairs. Giving Baekbeom and Sohyun a wave, Baekhyun pushes Kyungsoo up the ladder. When they get all the way up, Kyungsoo goes to the kitchen and begins looking for things to clean. Baekhyun watches him, unsure of how to ask him what’s wrong.

“I can stay home tomorrow if you really want,” Baekhyun says in a cheerful voice. Kyungsoo’s back is facing him as he shakes his head. 

“Go to work.” Baekhyun’s face falls, but Kyungsoo continues, “Can you keep your Saturday free?”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun says as he walks forward so that Kyungsoo’s back is pressing against his chest. “You don’t need to wipe down the counter. It’s clean enough that I could eat off of it.”

Kyungsoo wrinkles his nose in distaste as Baekhyun takes the rag out of his hands and wraps both Kyungsoo’s hands in his own. “You have work too. Let’s go to sleep.”

“I’ve been having bad dreams,” Kyungsoo says as he follows Baekhyun to the bathroom.

“What happens in them?” Baekhyun asks as he pulls out Kyungsoo’s toothbrush and hands it to him.

“I keep-” learning that I can’t get you back. “-losing things.”

“Hm, that doesn’t sound like you,” Baekhyun says as he squirts toothpaste messily onto his toothbrush. “What are you losing?”

Kyungsoo shoves the toothbrush into his mouth before he can answer and shrugs his shoulders. Baekhyun makes a face, knowing that Kyungsoo’s stalling but begins brushing his teeth as well.

When they finally get into bed, Baekhyun asks again. “What are you losing?”

“Important stuff.”

“How important?”

“Very important.” Kyungsoo can see his glare before Baekhyun turns off the light and turns to face Kyungsoo.

“As important as money?”

“More.”

“Food?”

“More.”

“Family.”

Kyungsoo pauses before saying, “More.”

Baekhyun hums as his fingers tap the side of Kyungsoo’s neck. Kyungsoo can kind of see Baekhyun’s open eyes as he stares at the sheets between them. “Me?”

Kyungsoo pause is much longer this time before he says, “You.”

“Why would you lose me?” Kyungsoo isn’t sure if he imagines the tremor in Baekhyun’s voice. After remembering his conversation with the old man, he keeps grasping for anything he can find in Baekhyun’s mannerisms and the few minutes he’s been paying attention to are beginning to drive him crazy.

“Reasons. Pesky reasons,” Kyungsoo says, echoing the old man’s words.

“Do I have to worry about them?” Baekhyun says as his fingers continue to tap up and down Kyungsoo’s neck, every once in a while spelling out a word.

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo answers honestly and this time he really does see Baekhyun’s eyes flit up to his own.

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Not yet.”

“Okay.” Baekhyun curls his fingers around the nape of Kyungsoo’s neck and pulls him closer. “Then, goodnight, Soo.”

“Goodnight, Baek.”

~

“It’s June,” Sojin sings doing a little dance in the kitchen. Kyungsoo laughs at her excitement for the end of the school year, but he can feel a heaviness in his heart.

“Well, you may be done with school, but I still have work,” Baekhyun grumbles, and Sojin skips over to give him a hug.

“It’s okay, samcheon. Me and Kyungsoo oppa will come pick you up from work!” Kyungsoo looks to Baekbeom, confused, but Baekbeom just nods his head as Baekhyun pats Sojin on the head.

“I’ll look forward to it, flower,” Baekhyun says as he begins walking down the stairs. “See you then!”

Once Baekhyun is gone, Sojin turns, very serious. “What kind of flower am I?”

Kyungsoo and Baekbeom burst out laughing and Baekbeom answers, “The prettiest one.”

“Okay!” Sojin says with a grin. “I’m going to go see Soyoung.” She bounces off to the toddler’s room where Sohyun is doing a daily checkup. Soyoung is much healthier than before and at this point, they’re just precautions.

Kyungsoo finishes his breakfast and goes down before Baekbeom to make sure everything is set up. When he finally opens up shop, Taeyeon appears and walks right in.

“Kyungsoo, I’d like to speak with you.” Her usual playful demeanor is gone and she’s wearing all grey. It looks stylish on her, but the difference between her usually bright colors is jarring.

“Um, let me just let hyung know,” Kyungsoo says, and Taeyeon gives him a curt nod. “Hyung, Taeyeon is here. She wants to talk to me,” he calls up the stairs. 

“Oh, good luck,” Baekbeom says in a teasing voice. It sounds like he’s still sitting at the table. “Just lock the door behind you then. No one’s coming in this early anyway.”

“Got it,” Kyungsoo says as he grabs the key from behind the counter. The way Taeyeon is looking at him makes him nervous, but he dutifully locks the door and follows her. She leads the way to a small cafe where they get seated in a booth in the back. Taeyeon orders a cup of coffee with a smile, but the minute the waiter leaves her face turns serious again.

“Kyungsoo-ah,” she starts, and he relaxes just a fraction from the affectionate term. “How long are you staying here?”

“Hm?” Kyungsoo says in surprise. It definitely wasn’t what he expected her to ask. “Um, until the end of June I think.”

“Have you told anyone yet?” Taeyeon asks. She’s looking at him with suspicious eyes, but there’s also concern behind them.

“Not yet…” Kyungsoo trails off when the waitress brings Taeyeon her coffee. She grasps the cup daintily, but Kyungsoo can tell she’s holding back.

“When are you going to tell Baekhyun?” Taeyeon asks and this time Kyungsoo is sure he isn’t imagining her sharp gaze.

“Soon, why?” Kyungsoo says returning her piercing gaze with a blank one.

“I’ve seen you two,” Taeyeon says and he finally hears what he’s been expecting. “I like you, Kyungsoo. I think we’ve become friends, but if Baekhyun goes through the same thing he did when he was with… that man, I won’t be able to forgive you.” Taeyeon gives him a calculating look. “I’ve been faithful to this entire engagement, but I’m older than most women who get married.” She certainly doesn’t look like it. “Baekhyun keeps putting it off, and if he weren’t as influential as he is, he would be in big trouble by now.” There’s worry in her eyes again, but her piercing gaze is still there as well. “He’s in _big_ trouble. Our families aren’t happy with how long this is taking. Kyungsoo…” Taeyeon looks down at her coffee for a second. She hasn’t taken a single sip out of it yet. “I saw you with that man the other day.”

“Who?” Kyungsoo asks. This conversation is curving off into somewhere he never would’ve expected.

Taeyeon gestures to her hair looking a bit lost. “He had-his hair was-it was extremely colorful.”

Kyungsoo eyes widen and Taeyeon looks up at him looking distressed. “I’ve been having dreams. And that one in particular, told me to go to the park.” Before Kyungsoo can respond, she holds up a gloved hand. “Are you acquaintances with a god?” 

“What?” Kyungsoo asks dumbly.

“A god.” Taeyeon takes one of the gloves off to show manicured nails underneath. “I dreamed about you and that boy who works for Minseok. They’re dreams, but they’ve proven themselves to be quite real.” She swallows and Kyungsoo realizes that this conversation is as hard for her as it is for him. “And then last night, I heard that you were leaving from that voice.”

“Voice?” Kyungsoo asks, leaning forward.

“I saw you two the day Baekhyun’s family left for vacation,” Taeyeon continues randomly without heeding his question. She’s gripping the cup a little tighter now.

“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo asks completely lost in where the conversation is going.

“It was early in the morning and our family had a party. I ended up taking a walk with a cousin and we ended up outside the shop. I-I saw you two-” Her voice shakes and Taeyeon doesn’t finish her sentence, but Kyungsoo knows exactly what she’s talking about.

“Did your cousin see?” Kyungsoo asks in a panicked voice. “Did you tell anyone?”

“No, he was drunk out of his mind. He didn’t see anything.” Taeyeon looks down at her coffee with tears in her eyes. She still hasn’t brought it up to her lips.

“Taeyeon-”

“No, it’s fine. I don’t know what I expected,” she says as a teardrop falls into the coffee. “But wow.” Her head looks up to the ceiling to keep the tears from falling anymore. “That hurt. I just-I thought that you would understand, but you made it worse.”

“Noona, I’m sorry. I don’t know how it happened,” Kyungsoo says as her pretty face scrunches up to keep the tears at bay. She looks more human, more ugly like this, and it makes Kyungsoo feel worse. 

“Can I have a napkin? I don’t want to dirty my handkerchief. It’s just for decoration.” Kyungsoo hurriedly hands her a napkin and Kyungsoo watches her dab carefully at her eyes, making sure no one can see her. Under her breath she goes, “Just like me.”

Kyungsoo’s heart squeezes and he doesn’t know what to do. “I’m leaving at the end of June. I won’t come back after that,” Kyungsoo says and there are so many emotions swirling inside him at this point, none of them even remotely good.

“No,” Taeyeon says as she continues dabbing at the edges of her eyes, trying not to smear her minimal makeup. “Please come back. I don’t hate you. Baekhyun is Baekhyun, there’s nothing anyone can do about that.”

“Noona,” Kyungsoo says helplessly. She’s pulling him into a weird situation. 

“I feel like the bad guy,” Taeyeon says biting down on her lip to keep from crying more. “I’m not trying to be. It’s just that, I wanted you to know that I know, and… I wish it wasn’t you, but I’m also glad that it’s you.”

“You aren’t the bad guy,” Kyungsoo says as she wrings her gloves. “I’m the bad guy.”

“No, you’re just lost,” Taeyeon says. “Anyone would be in your situation.” She slowly reaches her hand across the table to grab Kyungsoo’s hand. She no longer looks cold and intimidating, just sad.

Kyungsoo looks down at their hands, surprised she’s even willing to touch him. She went through just as many emotions as he probably did and yet she still finds it in herself to smile at him with sincerity.

“I won’t come back,” Kyungsoo repeats unsurely. Her hands are much warmer without her gloves.

“And I’m glad it’s Baekhyun for you, even if I’m really not,” Taeyeon says as she gives his hand a squeeze. She’s no longer smiling, but she takes a deep breath and keeps holding his hands. “After you leave, he’ll probably get more closed off again.”

“How are you okay with this? How do you not hate me?” Kyungsoo says as she looks at their hands.

“I’ve had months to process this,” Taeyeon says as she lets go. “And I’ve realized how much better off Baekhyun has been. He was in pretty bad shape before you came. And now, well, I don’t have to explain.” Kyungsoo rises up with her as she pulls her gloves on. “You’re a good thing for him, and I can only hope that your influence will carry over for a longer amount of time.”

“What about you two?” Kyungsoo asks as she pays the cashier for her untouched coffee. 

“I don’t need him to love me, I just need him to be good company.” The words are cold, but the way she says it instills so much more meaning into them. “After all, it’s never quite our choice, is it.” It’s not a question, just a fact.

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo says quietly. “For not hating me.”

“I wish I could,” Taeyeon says with a laugh that sounds a little bitter. “But what happened to you… I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.”

“What do you think happened to me?” Kyungsoo asks, curiosity rising again.

“That you traveled very far to get here, not by choice. And now you have to travel all the way back. Not by choice, once again.”

“Do you know where I traveled from?”

“I try not to think about it,” Taeyeon says with a disbelieving laugh. She’s still sad though and Kyungsoo wonders if he’s cracked some small part of her. He shoves the thought down as far as it can go.

“And you believe it at all?” Kyungsoo says as he unlocks the door. Baekbeom is being lazy again. It’s eight and he still hasn’t come down.

“I’ve learned to keep an open mind… and you’re a bit weird. I could kind of tell you didn’t belong here. Although I didn’t think it’d be quite as drastic as it is. I must be very old to you,” she says. 

“Of course not, noona,” Kyungsoo says as they enter. Taeyeon laughs again, the sound still tinged with sadness, and lets go of his arm.

“I have something to get to.” Taeyeon turns to leave, but suddenly her head whips back around. “I forgot to tell you.”

Kyungsoo looks back at her in surprise.

“Tell him you’re going to leave. Don’t hold it off.” Taeyeon turns back around and leaves just like that.

Kyungsoo watches her go in a whirlwind of grey as he tries to process what she just said.

When Baekbeom finally comes downstairs, Kyungsoo is standing behind the counter working very slowly.

“Are you okay?” Baekbeom asks as he begins going through the cash register.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo says as he continues to slowly go through the towels and other tools. Everything about what just happened was the last thing he expected.

“Hm,” Baekbeom says narrowing his eyes at the coins. “Well, could you work a little faster then? I understand you want to be accurate, but we’re already opening a little late.”

Kyungsoo looks up in apology, but Baekbeom gives him a wink. “I’m kidding.” But he looks down at the pile of unfolded towels. “But a little faster Kyungsoo. You’re usually quicker.”

“Of course,” Kyungsoo says speeding up. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I couldn’t get up this morning. It’s almost a quarter past eight and we still haven’t opened. More my fault than yours.” Kyungsoo just folds even faster. 

In the afternoon, Kyungsoo takes Sojin to the paper, where all Baekhyun’s coworkers come out to dote on her. Baekhyun eventually bats them all off and picks her up.

“What are your dad and I going to do once you grow up?” Baekhyun asks as he fixes her hair. “You’re already so pretty.”

Sojin beams and puts a hand on Baekhyun’s cheek. “It’s okay. You’re pretty too.”

Kyungsoo cracks up at Baekhyun’s expression as he pats her on the head and elbows Kyungsoo in the stomach.

“Thank you. Do you think Kyungsoo oppa is pretty?” Kyungsoo makes an x with his arms when Baekhyun isn’t looking and Sojin shakes her head.

“No, I think he’s cute.” This time Baekhyun is the one cracking up as Kyungsoo sputters in protest.

“I’m not,” Kyungsoo says as Baekhyun and Sojin grin at each other.

“Yes, you are,” Baekhyun says in a teasing voice and Sojin nods with him.

“You’re the cutest person I know, oppa,” Sojin says with a genuine grin and Kyungsoo sighs in defeat.

“Thank you.”

Baekhyun laughs teasing him about how cute he is all the way home. They have dinner with Baekbeom and Sojin. Sohyun has to pick Soyoung up from a daycare and when she gets home, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are already upstairs.

“Hey, I think you borrowed one of my sweaters. The green one with the rip on the sleeve,” Baekhyun says as they both sit at his desk. Kyungsoo in the chair and Baekhyun on the desk itself.

“Oh, it’s in my closet,” Kyungsoo says, starting to get up, but Baekhyun pushes him down gently and gets up.

“I’ll find it.” A minute later, Baekhyun comes out of his room with a familiar sweater in one hand and what looks like a small business card in the other. “Soo, what’s this?”

Kyungsoo cranes his neck forward and Baekhyun holds the business card closer to his face.

“Busan Assisted Living Facility,” Kyungsoo reads slowly. His eyes widen and he looks up at Baekhyun. “Where’d you get this from?”

“It was at the back of your closet. What is it for?”

“Nothing,” Kyungsoo says in a jittery voice. “It’s nothing.”

Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo a little worried about his change in demeanor but nods. “Okay.”

“Keep it,” Kyungsoo says suddenly. “It’s mine, but I don’t need it.”

Baekhyun gives Kyungsoo an awkward laugh as he pockets the business card. “Okay,” he repeats in that incredulous voice.

Kyungsoo gives a nod of his head and abruptly gets up to go to the kitchen. He pours himself a cup of water and Baekhyun follows behind him. Kyungsoo takes a long sip before setting it down quietly. Baekhyun is still holding the green sweater in his hands as Kyungsoo looks up at him. There’s a tense silence as Kyungsoo looks down at his water, swirling it. Baekhyun plays with the sleeves of his sweater as he waits for Kyungsoo to say something.

“Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says as he continues to stare at his glass of water. “Could you…say something for me? Even if you don’t mean it. I just need to hear you say it.”

Baekhyun stops messing around with the sweater and looks up. “Depends on what it is.”

Kyungsoo chews on his bottom lip, hesitant, and Baekhyun sets the sweater down on the counter. “I’ll say it. What is it?”

Kyungsoo can’t see Baekhyun’s expression as he looks at their distorted reflections through the glass of water. “Could you tell me you love me?”

There’s a pause and then Baekhyun laughs incredulously. Kyungsoo can feel his heart sinking and is suddenly very glad that he isn’t looking at Baekhyun. Kyungsoo sets down his glass and laughs with Baekhyun.

“I’m just kidding. I’m going to go to bed.” Kyungsoo pushes off the counter, but Baekhyun grabs him by the waist.

“Wait, what?” Baekhyun says. When Kyungsoo refuses to meet his eyes keeping his head down, so Baekhyun bends down, comically low, so that they’re face to face. “Hey, Kyungsoo.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes meet his for a second and Baekhyun gives him a sweet, open smile. “I love you. And I mean it.” 

Kyungsoo’s poker face comes back full force and he just stares blankly at Baekhyun for a few seconds, before Baekhyun stands up straight. Kyungsoo looks up as well and Baekhyun awkwardly shuffles his feet as Kyungsoo just looks at him. 

“I love you too,” Kyungsoo says. His face is still expressionless, but his eyes are too expressive. Baekhyun blinks once, twice, before he gives Kyungsoo another smile. 

“Were you afraid I wouldn’t say it?” Baekhyun says as a tiny smile of disbelief and amazement slowly appears on Kyungsoo’s face.

“Yes,” Kyungsoo answers honestly and Baekhyun sighs.

“Thank god, because I was afraid you weren’t going to say it back and I was going to look like a complete idiot.”

Kyungsoo laughs a little holding a hand to his chest. His heart is beating too hard and it feels like he just had it squeezed to death because of those three stupid words.

“I do though,” Baekhyun says as he picks his sweater back up and dumps Kyungsoo’s water into the sink. Kyungsoo shakes his head as he struggles to contain his smile.

“I believe you.” Kyungsoo grabs Baekhyun’s wrist loosely as Baekhyun sets the glass in the sink. Baekhyun turns off the kitchen light as Kyungsoo follows and turns off the desk light. “I just needed you to know.” Kyungsoo thinks to the old man in his rocking chair, alone. “That I love you, because I do. More than you know.”

Baekhyun’s eyes are wide and Kyungsoo can see a blush blooming across his cheekbones as they walk to the bedroom. “Um. Thank you…” Baekhyun says, his voice cracking a little. From embarrassment or emotion, Kyungsoo can’t tell. “No,” Baekhyun says suddenly as he turns around. Kyungsoo shuts the door to the bedroom. “I meant me too. Not thank you. Oh my god.” Baekhyun looks a bit mortified.

“Thank you is fine,” Kyungsoo says with a shrug of his shoulders and Baekhyun shakes his head. 

“This is the most awkward confession, I’ve ever had a chance to be a part of.”

“Have you had a lot?” Kyungsoo says as Baekhyun puts the sweater away and comes to sit down next to Kyungsoo.

“No, it’s just people were always getting confessed to in front of me.” Kyungsoo gives him an unimpressed look and Baekhyun laughs awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. “Okay so some of them were directed at me, but some of them weren’t.”

“What was the most awkward one before this then?” Kyungsoo asks as they crawl into bed.

“Some girl told me she loved me in a school wide assembly and then she ended up ripping my school uniform when I tried to get up. My underwear was in full view for everyone.”

Kyungsoo looks at Baekhyun and literally turns to bury his head in the pillow so he doesn’t laugh out loud. 

“It was pretty bad. She got arrested a few years later on account of stalking so…” Baekhyun crawls into bed underneath the blankets. Kyungsoo is still laughing and when he turns to face Baekhyun, there’s still an amused grin on his face as he buries his head onto Baekhyun’s pillow instead. “Is it really that funny?” Baekhyun asks when Kyungsoo is still laughing minutes later. He’s gripping Baekhyun’s sleeve as he moves in closer. Baekhyun pretends to be annoyed but wraps his arms around Kyungsoo.

“What underwear were you wearing that day?” Kyungsoo asks between laughs.

“Let’s not talk about that,” Baekhyun says pulling Kyungsoo into his chest so that his face is smushed by his shirt.

Kyungsoo pulls back and there’s a look of delight on his face that makes Baekhyun shiver in fear. “What was it?”

“I’m not telling you,” Baekhyun says, eyes wide. Kyungsoo’s are wider.

“What did they look like?” Baekhyun shakes his head, but Kyungsoo nods his own. “Tell me.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“I love you.” Baekhyun turns red again and Kyungsoo is glad the lights are on. “I’ll keep saying it if you don’t tell me.” When Baekhyun doesn’t respond, Kyungsoo says it again. “I love you.”

“Please stop.”

“I love you.”

“Why are you like this today?”

“I love you.”

“Hearts!” Baekhyun blurts out. “They had hearts and flowers on them. Okay?”

Kyungsoo begins laughing even harder and Baekhyun covers his face with one of his hands. “I hate you.”

“Funny, you said you loved me a few minutes ago.”

“I can do both. I’m good at multitasking.”

“Well, I can’t,” Kyungsoo says between laughs and Baekhyun’s embarrassed expression turns bashful again.

“I didn’t know you were this sappy, Soo,” Baekhyun says as he turns off the lamp.

With the darkness around them, Kyungsoo allows his sadness to wash over him and appear on his features. “Well, I am.”

“I mean I don’t mind it.”

“I love you,” Kyungsoo says again, and he keeps his voice teasing, but he’s struggling with his tears now.

“Ugh, never mind, maybe I do,” Baekhyun says, but he keeps his arms around him. “I love you too.”

Kyungsoo laughs a little, feeling a tear come out, but he just presses his face into Baekhyun’s t-shirt and holds the rest in. As he smells Baekhyun’s familiar scent, he doesn’t know if he can even handle the word lavender after he leaves.

~

He has less than a week left.

Kyungsoo still hasn’t told Baekhyun and no one except for Taeyeon and Jungkook have any idea that he’ll be gone soon. He _needs_ to tell Baekhyun but every time he broaches the subject, he can’t seem to get past the first few words. 

Kyungsoo tries to come to terms with the fact that when he gets back Baekhyun will be an old man close to death and he’ll be exactly the same, but he can’t. How can he, when Baekhyun is right in front of him, young and healthy?

He and Sojin pick Baekhyun up from work everyday and sometimes he’ll bring Sojin to the park to visit Minseok and Jungkook. Jungkook is even more shy around Sojin and every time she calls him oppa, he get flustered and stutters answering her. Minseok always laughs when that happens and Kyungsoo encourages her to do it more. 

Baekhyun comes to the park once as well. On the day, Kyungsoo is supposed to leave. He takes the day off at Kyungsoo’s request and they spend the whole day walking around. Baekhyun even tries to skateboard, although he gives up once he ends up flat on his butt. Jungkook keeps Sojin occupied by letting her sit on his shoulders, but throughout the day he eyes Baekhyun and Kyungsoo warily. He’s already pushed Kyungsoo several times to tell Baekhyun.

“Next week we’re going to Jeju,” Baekhyun says as they walk around. He’s wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, making him look much younger. More like he’s fresh out of high school than a couple years away from thirty. “But I have to go chase a story. Are you going to stay home alone?”

Kyungsoo picks at his nails as he tries to think of an answer. Next week is seven days, but he doesn’t even have one. “I have to tell you something.” It’s now or never. The chance has been set right in front of him.

Baekhyun hums in affirmation as he continues to look down at the cracks in the pavement.

“I don’t think I’ll be here next week.”

Baekhyun hums again, before he realizes what Kyungsoo said. “Hm? Where will you be?”

Kyungsoo looks over to see Jungkook watching them as Sojin plays with his hair. “I’m going back home.”

“Home?” They’ve never breached the subject of where Kyungsoo came from. All Baekhyun knows is it’s in Busan. He knows basic information about Kyungsoo’s family and a few stories Kyungsoo lets slip out when he’s feeling too comfortable, but Kyungsoo has made it seem like his family abandoned him. Unfortunately, it’s not as far from the truth as Kyungsoo would like it to be.

“Yeah, home. I need to go back.” Kyungsoo looks up at the sky as he continues.

“Are you coming back?” Kyungsoo shakes his head slowly. “Then I’m going to have to come visit you.”

“You can’t.” Kyungsoo’s glad that his head is tilted up, and he doesn’t dare turn to look at Baekhyun.

“What?” Confusion colors Baekhyun’s voice. It’s not like he knows what Kyungsoo means anyway.

“Once I leave, I can’t come back, and you can’t see me,” Kyungsoo says quietly. What did the old man say? He wanted an explanation? 

“What are you talking about? Why?” There’s confusion, but now there’s underlying hurt.

“It’s not my choice,” Kyungsoo says as they walk to a more secluded area. Since it’s summer there are a lot more kids here. “It’s just the way it is.” That helplessness comes back full force and Kyungsoo has to stop walking from the weight of it. “I’m not supposed to even be here in the first place.” He wanted an explanation, he’s getting it. “Everything here is wrong. I’m used to cars and subways and ridiculously cold air conditioning. There’s no Wi-Fi here and when I watch TV I’m always wishing it was in HD because my stupid roommates decided to invest in a huge flat screen. I want microwavable food and crappy convenience store ramen. I’m not used to home cooked food every day and welcoming someone back home, someone who’s genuinely glad to see me. I was always at work and I the day I came here, I just thought, what if-what if I walked into the street? I could’ve. I should’ve. I didn’t end up doing it because insurance would’ve been a bitch for the driver whether I was dead or alive. I backed up, but somehow I ended up in the middle of the street anyway. And I got pulled out by some asshole who decided that my life would be better if I met _you_.”

Kyungsoo finally stops to take a breath and, god, he’s been crying so much lately.

Baekhyun looks at him in confusion, but it’s probably because he didn’t understand half of the words that came out of Kyungsoo’s mouth. 

“You wanted to kill yourself?” Of course that’s the one thing he understood.

“No-Yes, but only for a second, and of course that was the one second that fucked up my entire life.”

Baekhyun seems a bit taken aback by Kyungsoo’s intensity, but he nods. “Soo…you know I understood less than half of what you said, right?”

Kyungsoo almost laughs out loud at that. “Sorry, I got nervous.”

Baekhyun steps closer to Kyungsoo and looks him in the eye. “You’re crying.”

“Of course I’m crying,” Kyungsoo says in a defeated voice and he laughs. “Baekhyun, I wasn’t born 1933, I was born in 1993. I don’t know any of the celebrities you talk about and I hardly know any of the books you read. I don’t belong here. I really don’t belong here.”

Baekhyun is even more confused as he watches Kyungsoo wipe away another tear. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m from the future. You know like those shitty sci-fi movies? Never mind they don’t have any yet,” Kyungsoo says sighing and sinking down so that he’s squatting. 

“You were born in 1993,” Baekhyun says as he squats down with Kyungsoo. “That’s a weird year for you to choose.” Kyungsoo laughs again and runs a hand through his hair. “Because it hasn’t happened yet.”

“Exactly.” They’re behind one of the trees on the side of the park as Baekhyun reaches out to touch a hand to Kyungsoo’s cheek.

“Then, that business card, the one you gave me a few weeks ago, it doesn’t exist yet?”

Kyungsoo looks up and he can’t quite decipher the look on Baekhyun’s face. “Yes.”

“Is this how we meet?” 

“What?” Kyungsoo asks as Baekhyun moves closer.

“This old person’s home, is this how we meet?”

“How-” Baekhyun lets go of Kyungsoo’s cheek. 

“You said you’ve been having bad dreams? I have too. I was surprised when some place from my dreams appeared on a business card that you have. Kyungsoo, is this where you meet me?”

“Y-Yes,” Kyungsoo says looking at Baekhyun with worry. “What kind of dreams have you been having?”

“You know, I age really well,” Baekhyun says with a teasing smile, but it’s anything but funny. “But you age even better.”

“Baekhy-”

“You’re leaving today. I know,” Baekhyun says as he stands up, brushing himself off.

“Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says as he gets up with him, but he doesn’t know what to say next.

“Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun says back as he looks at Kyungsoo with a sad smile. “Everything may be working against you, but I’m not. I’d much rather meet you old and ugly, than watch you die while I look young and _very_ attractive. We’ll see each other again. Don’t worry about that.”

“You’ll see me again, but I don’t think I will,” Kyungsoo finally says. “When I was leaving-” Kyungsoo really hates crying, he really does. He thinks that he’s cried enough, these past few months, to last him an entire lifetime.

Baekhyun pulls Kyungsoo in for a hug and Kyungsoo laughs into it. “I wish I didn’t tell you.”

“Well, I’m glad you did.” And then it’s Baekhyun who’s leaning onto Kyungsoo for support as he sinks into the hug. “But god, why couldn’t you tell me earlier, Soo?”

“I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo says into Baekhyun’s hair. “I didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t even think you’d believe me.”

“I’ll always believe you, Kyungsoo.”

~

Kyungsoo takes his backpack and everything he had from before. The dried lavender gets tucked into his pocket and he leaves when Baekhyun is sleeping. Before he goes, he pulls out his notebook and takes a long look at it. He finally sets it down on Baekhyun’s desk before he leaves the house quietly. 

Jungkook is waiting outside, looking afraid, as he fiddles with Taehyung’s bracelet.

“Hyung,” he says in surprise when Kyungsoo comes out quietly. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Kyungsoo feels like he’s walking through wet concrete as they walk towards the familiar street corner. There’s a single cat slinking around as it watches them approach.

“I’m sorry, hyung,” Jungkook says softly as they stand next to the cat. Kyungsoo just shakes his head as he looks back at the familiar building.

They stand there for a few minutes, and Jungkook begins getting antsy, when all of a sudden someone taps them both on the shoulders. Kyungsoo turns around slowly, but Jungkook whirls around.

All he says is, “Hold on tight” before gripping their hands tightly and walking forward. Jungkook stumbles a little and suddenly there’s a car whizzing past them and the chatter of people everywhere.

Kyungsoo looks around and sees a few high rises. He turns in a circle and sees the stoplight he originally missed a couple of years ago. There’s the convenience store he stops by sometimes. 

“We’re here,” he breathes out and he turns to the man, but, of course, he’s gone. He looks to see if Jungkook is there. He is, but the younger has both his hands over his ears as he looks to the traffic and the people in shock. Kyungsoo taps one of Jungkook’s shoulders. “Are you alright?”

Jungkook can barely shake his head as his eyes dart around in confusion. “It’s loud.”

Kyungsoo remembers that Jungkook’s not used to the loudness of the city and hurriedly searches through his backpack for something.

“Here.” He helps Jungkook put the earbuds in and finds something for him to listen to. Jungkook jumps, when Kyungsoo accidentally clicks on one of Chanyeol’s compositions and Kyungsoo mouths a word of apology before putting on some classical music Namjoon downloaded for some reason. Jungkook relaxes although he stares at the phone and the earbuds in surprise. Kyungsoo is also surprised that his phone’s battery is back, but he doesn’t question it. Only then, does he realize what Jungkook is wearing.

“Wow, you really meant royal garbs,” Kyungsoo says as he looks down at Jungkook’s clothes. “Um, come with me.”

They go to a cheap clothing shop and Kyungsoo quickly buys Jungkook a hoodie, jeans, and some gym shoes. He also gets a bag to stuff Jungkook’s colorful robes into.

“He’s cosplaying,” Kyungsoo says when the employees look at Jungkook suspiciously. They nod, but continue to watch him. Jungkook’s hair is long and Kyungsoo helps him tuck it into the hoodie before putting the earbuds back in for him.

He takes a deep breath once they get that over with, and Kyungsoo finally gets a moment to think. Even though he technically hasn’t left, Kyungsoo hasn’t been here in two years. He doesn’t even know if he remembers the way home. Jungkook munches on a bag of chips Kyungsoo bought for him and Kyungsoo finally feels like he’s going to lose his mind. He should’ve just stayed with Baekhyun. He could’ve went to some remote village once he knew he was going to die and dealt with that there. 

Kyungsoo shoots up suddenly and Jungkook almost falls over, trying to keep up with him. “No time has passed, so that means I left the center less than half an hour ago.” Jungkook can’t hear anything he’s saying, so he’s taken by surprise when Kyungsoo pulls him up and begins walking determinedly in one direction.

They end up outside of the assisted living center and Kyungsoo keeps an arm around Jungkook’s shoulders so he doesn’t go missing as they walk into the building. Taehyung is working at the front desk when they walk in and he jumps up out of his seat excitedly.

“Hyung, just in time, I have a call for you.” Taehyung gives him a devious smile when Kyungsoo doesn’t answer him right away. “He sounds hot. You should answer it.”

“Wait,” Kyungsoo says as he puts Jungkook right in front of Taehyung. “Watch him and don’t pull the earbuds out.”

Before Taehyung can ask anything, Kyungsoo goes running down the hall and up the stairs to Baekhyun’s room. He doesn’t care if he’s old or four times older than him. He just needs to make sure he’s still there.

He flings the door open, but an old woman looks up in surprise. 

“Can I help you young man?”

“Where’s Byun Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo asks as he pants from running.

“Excuse me?”

“The old man who lives here.”

“I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong room,” the old lady says and Kyungsoo shuts the door to check on the room number. 506. He has the right room. He walks back with his eyebrows furrowed as he reaches Taehyung, who is typing away on the keyboard as Jungkook watches from behind him in awe.

“What’s Byun Baekhyun’s room number?”

“What?”

“Look up Byun Baekhyun’s room number for me.”

“I’ve never heard of him,” Taehyung says, but he dutifully types in the name. The phone begins ringing again and the other volunteer, Youngjae, picks it up.

“Yeah, there’s no name like that in our database, hyung.” Taehyung shrugs his shoulders. 

Jungkook’s earbuds are still in, but he looks up from the screen with a sad look on his face.

“What do you mean? Byun Baekhyun, he’s been here for-”

“Sorry to interrupt, but someone is asking for you Kyungsoo hyung,” Youngjae says as he points to the phone. 

“I-” Kyungsoo looks at the phone in annoyance and worry. “Not right now.”

“Okay,” Youngjae says.

“Who’s Byun Baekhyun?” Taehyung asks.

“He’s a friend. He should be here,” Kyungsoo says as he begins picking at his nails again. He really needs to get rid of that bad habit. “You know the old-” Kyungsoo chokes a little on the words. “-man who really likes lavenders?”

“No,” Taehyung says, drawing out the vowel. 

“Hyung,” Youngjae says again. “They keep calling and asking for you. They said that you two are friends. The name of…” Youngjae turns back to the phone. “Could you repeat your name please? Hm? Okay, thank you. Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun.”

“What?” Kyungsoo asks, floored.

“Oh, like your Baekhyun?” Taehyung says in mild interest. "He didn't sound like an old guy."

Kyungsoo reaches for the phone and slowly holds it up to his ear. “Do Kyungsoo speaking.”

“Kyungsoo?” 

He drops the phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> um...  
> please don't hate me?
> 
> This is a series, but the next work is going to be taekook so I can't promise that anything about baeksoo. Things will be explained though.
> 
> haha, i can't believe i finished this. i'm sorry this was a bit of a mess, but i hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> i need another second.


End file.
